


Book 11 - Secrets and Lies

by GailDunn2



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Angst, Dark, Drama, F/M, Inspired by Supernatural (TV), Multi, Sexual Content
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-02
Updated: 2018-12-01
Packaged: 2019-09-05 08:55:23
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 90,400
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16807468
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GailDunn2/pseuds/GailDunn2
Summary: Castiel is about to learn that the road to redemption is a long one. At what point is deception merciful, and at what point do the lies become cruel and self-serving? Will his reconciliation with Gail and the Winchesters even matter once the worst evil known to man is loosed upon the Earth?





	1. Direct Amends

Castiel and Gail sat on his couch, and Cas scooped up her hands in his.

"No, Gail," he said, anguished. Here he had been, praying for a miracle, and she was telling him that Sam was so far gone that Dean had decided to take his brother off of the life support machines in the morning.

Tears were streaming down her face. "And he doesn't even get to be an Angel! Apparently, Sam's slated to go to the Netherworld, for some reason."

Cas was startled. "What?"

"Bobby told Dean Sam is on the list," Gail said, sniffling. "Who makes up that stupid list, anyway? Shouldn't that be for God to decide? How is that fair?"

Castiel had no idea. This was the first he'd heard of any list, and he told Gail this now. "Our Father never mentioned that to me," he said soberly. "I don't know anything about it." He also wondered who had made up this mysterious list, and why Sam would be on it. Cas thought back: Raphael was in the Netherworld, and Rowena had been too until just recently, when they had had to bring her back in order to obtain the last ingredient for the cure. Death had personally escorted Castiel there after his execution, but Crowley had resurrected Cas almost immediately afterwards, so he hadn't had the chance to find out who else might be there. And from what he had been able to glean, Metatron had been slated to go there, but Bobby had sent him to Lucifer's cage instead. Was the Netherworld a place for the elite, whether they were good, or bad? Archangels would certainly qualify for exalted status, as would Originals. Perhaps Rowena had qualified due to her status as Crowley's mother; Crowley was another Original, and he was the King of Hell, after all. But, Sam?

"I'm going to call Bobby," Cas said. He sent out the call on Angel Radio for Bobby to please come. How good it was to be able to do that again, even though the circumstances this time were so dire.

Bobby appeared before them, and his expression was grim. "I know what you're gonna ask me, Cas, and the answer is no."

Gail was puzzled. "No, what?"

Bobby sat in the chair by the couch, and he leaned forward. "No, I can't intervene."

"Why not?" Gail asked him. She was extremely frustrated with Bobby, and not for the first time. Bobby was God, and yet it seemed like he was unable to do any of the things that really mattered. He couldn't revive people, he hadn't been able to bring Sam out of the coma, and now he was saying he couldn't do anything to prevent Sam from going to the Netherworld when he died. "Cas said you sent Metatron to Lucifer's cage, when he was due to go to the Netherworld," she pointed out.

"Yeah, I did," Bobby said sharply. He really didn't mean to speak to her in that tone, but Gail had to understand that this was hard on Bobby, too. Sam was like a son to him, and this whole thing was breaking Bobby's heart. "That's because nobody really wanted Metatron. Even among outcasts, he was an outcast. The list specified that his disposition was optional."

Castiel was frowning. "Who is on this list? Where did it come from? Who wrote it?" He could see that Bobby was anguished over the situation with Sam, but he had to know. Anyone could be on that list. If Sam was on it, likely Dean was, too. And if the list included all of the Originals, Gail would doubtless be on it, as well. That was what scared him the most. Cas knew nothing about the Netherworld, but its apparently checkered guest list worried him. What went on there? Did Good co-exist with Evil, or was it more like Purgatory, with each side tormenting the other? If he and Gail were to die, and Sam and Dean and Cas and Gail all went there, would any of them ever see each other again?

Bobby shook his head slowly. "I can't tell you that, Cas."

Cas was starting to get angry now. "Why not? Fine, Bobby. If you no longer trust me, then tell Gail, or Dean. They need to know, Bobby."

"It's not like that, Cas," Bobby protested. "It's not a matter of trust. The list has God's own seal on it, and it binds whoever is God to secrecy. I shouldn't have even told Dean that Sam was on it. I paid for that little stunt." He opened his shirt to show them a dark black mark on his chest. "I got off lucky," he said, rebuttoning his shirt. "If God reveals the contents of the list to anyone, the secrecy seal states that he's to be reduced to ashes immediately."

"God? God is to be reduced to ashes?" Gail asked, astonished. "What the hell kind of a thing is that?"

Despite the seriousness of the situation, Bobby's beard twitched. He'd said that very same thing when he had found out. But mostly, he'd been beyond angry. He couldn't convince Dean not to pull the plug, and Lord knows, he had tried. But if Sam was going to be brain-dead, that was no kind of life for him, either. But there was no way Bobby could let Sam go to the Netherworld. How fair would that be? But, Bobby was bound by the list. The whole situation was ridiculous.

"What about if we just let Sam die?" Cas blurted out. Bobby and Gail looked at him, shocked, so he hurriedly continued with his thought: "Then Crowley could revive him, as he did me."

Bobby frowned again. "No way, Cas. Crowley can't be trusted. Look at what he did to you."

"But he revived Frank," Cas said. He winced, but it had to be said. Gail was looking at him coolly now. The last thing they needed was a reminder of the time that Cas had killed Gail's brother when he had been a Demon and his mind had been diseased. But the priority was Sam right now.

"Yeah, he did," Bobby admitted, "but we're not gonna do that. I have a different idea. It's not much better, but it's the best I could come up with."

Gail's heart skipped a beat. "What is it, Bobby?" she asked him eagerly.

But Bobby was looking at Castiel, and his expression became even more serious. "Remember when you sent Sam and Dean back in time?"

Castiel could have kicked himself. Of course he remembered. Why had he not thought of that himself? "What do you want me to do, Bobby?" he said excitedly. "How far back do you want me to go?"

"Wait a minute," Gail said, holding up her hand. "Are you guys telling me that Cas can actually do that?" Then she remembered; Cas had told her once that he could. But he had been the Demon then, and they had been arguing over his jealousy of Sam, so she'd taken it with a huge grain of salt.

"Yes, I can," Cas told her earnestly.

"Well then, what are we waiting for?" Gail said impatiently. "And why didn't you do it sooner?"

"We were hoping things would resolve themselves naturally," Bobby told her. "Time travel is hard on all the parties involved, and it should only be used as a last resort." Unbeknownst to Gail, Bobby and Castiel had talked privately about the issue before today, and they had agreed to try to wait it out. But it seemed like they were out of options now.

Bobby looked at both of them. "We'll have to attempt it, I guess. But it'll require sacrifices from both of you."

So what else was new? Gail thought with a little bit of humour. But she was getting excited now. Time travel! How far back could they go? Could Cas send them back to before the tribunal? Oh, my God. If they could only have a do-over, he would never have been executed, and all the ugliness that had followed would never have happened. She and Cas would be back to being a loving couple, and she wouldn't still have those horrifying scenes in her head. Though she had been planning to tell him that she forgave him, Gail would much prefer that there be nothing to forgive.

But Bobby shook his head as soon as she asked him the question. "I can't authorize that, Gail. I'm sorry."

"Why not?" she said angrily. She was sick of Bobby telling her everything he couldn't do.

Bobby sighed. He was trying to be patient with her. She hadn't been in their lives when Cas had sent Sam and Dean back to the Old West. "Because sending people back takes an incredible toll on Cas, and he nearly died when he had to send them back that far," Bobby told Gail. Her heart sank. No, she wouldn't want that. "I'm going to propose that we send you and Sam back to just before the accident," Bobby continued. "Then you can stop Sam from getting in that car, Gail."

Though she was extremely disappointed that they wouldn't be able to erase what had happened to Cas, Gail knew she would just have to suck it up. This wasn't about her, or about Cas. It was about Sam.

"I can do that, Bobby," she said confidently. "I'll handcuff him to a chair, if I have to. It was my stupid request for that stupid paper that put us in that car in the first place." Now she started to get excited again. Gail had been feeling so much guilt over that fact. If they could get a do-over and Sam would be all right, she'd be more than OK with that.

"You realize this is going to change some things, though," Bobby cautioned her. "If you and Sam never have that accident, nothing that happened after that will have happened, either. If ya know what I mean."

Cas had already realized that, and he was nodding sadly. Sacrifice, indeed. He'd sensed that he and Gail were very close to reconciliation now, and all of that would be wiped away if they went back and did a reset. His mind flashed back to what the fortune teller had said to him at the fair: "If you alter what must be, the road will be a long one." Cas sighed heavily. Perhaps she hadn't been so fake after all.

Gail thought about that. She realized the same thing. She turned to Cas, who took her hand. "We have to do this, Cas. I know what Bobby's saying, but..."

Cas brought her hand up to his mouth to kiss it, and he gave her a gentle smile. Apparently, his Father wasn't finished with him yet. Now Cas was going to have to go through all the loneliness and heartbreak once again. Perhaps God wanted to see if Castiel had learned any lessons in his quest to be a better Angel, and a better person. Only Gail and Sam would be travelling back in time; Cas and Dean would not. Therefore, in one of those strange time travel anomalies, Sam and Gail would be living from the day of the accident as if nothing subsequent to it had happened, while Cas and Dean would have all of the memories of subsequent events. So Cas would know what he was supposed to do, how he was supposed to live, and how he was supposed to behave. It would be difficult, though. He was aware now that Sam and Gail's accident had changed everything, as far as his and Gail's relationship was concerned. It had been the catalyst for their reconnection. Cas had been mired in a deep depression, and he had been cut off from his loved ones, feeling sorry for himself. He had not truly started to work on himself until Gail had given him the wake-up call. But now he knew better, and even though he would have to suffer from not having her in his life once again, Cas could do even more to work on his recovery in the meantime. He made a mental note to follow up with Richard about that visit to the battered womens' shelter.

"It's all right, Gail," Cas said softly. "When two people are meant for each other, no time is too long, no distance is too far, and no one can ever tear them apart." Cas truly believed that now, too. Look at how many obstacles they had overcome, and yet he and Gail kept finding their way back to each other. But he'd added that last part as a reminder to himself, too. Cas was a work in progress, and if he ever started feeling jealous of Sam again, Cas would have to realize that if he and Gail were meant to be together, Sam's feelings for Gail shouldn't make any difference.

Gail squeezed Cas's hands. What a beautiful thing to say.

"OK, let's go," Bobby said, rising from his chair. He felt a little badly that these two would basically be back to square one if their reset worked. While Bobby normally didn't really go in for that mushy stuff, he felt for Cas and Gail. After the horror of that stretch when Cas had been a Demon and had abused Gail so badly, it had seemed to Bobby like Gail had been just about ready to forgive Cas. And now her memory of that fact would be wiped clean. Maybe once she and Sam got back, Bobby would tell her he was going to include Cas in the meetings. She might be mad at first, but Bobby was the boss. He'd take her anger if it meant that her seeing Cas every day might spark something and put them on the road to reconciliation again.

They winked into Sam's room, startling Dean. He was still in the same position as he'd been when Gail had left him. Dean had been holding Sam's hand and talking to him, reliving all of the crazy things that had happened to them in all the years they'd been on the road. He'd been crying a lot, but Dean had also laughed when he'd gone over some of their exploits. He'd looked fondly down at Sam's face. Dean gave him a hard time a lot of the time, but now that it was just the two of them, Dean told his younger brother how proud he was of him. Sam was so smart, and he had such a big heart. He'd grown up to be a much better man than Dean would ever be. Dean would try to carry on without his Sammy; he knew it would piss Sam off if he just gave up. But things would never be OK again. He promised Sam that he would take care of Gail, and if it turned out that she and Cas got back together, Dean would make sure that Cas treated her like a queen. And Dean would keep after Bobby, try to find out who else was on that damn list. Maybe one day they would all be together again. Were there any bars in the Netherworld? "If so, save me a stool, Sammy," Dean had said, and he'd started to cry again.

Dean stood and wiped his eyes with the backs of his hands when the Angels showed up. But then he decided it didn't really matter. They had all seen him cry before, and they would understand.

"We're here to help," Castiel told Dean. He walked over to Dean and put his hand on his friend's shoulder. They had been through many ups and downs together, and lately it had been all downs. But he felt a wave of love for Dean wash over him now. How hard this must be for him.

"There's nothing you can to do help," Dean said harshly, but he pulled Cas to him for a hug. His friend had been a giant dick a while back, but he was here now, when it counted, and Dean appreciated that. He would need all the support he could get.

"We think there is," Bobby said, stepping forward.

Dean pulled out of the embrace, wiping his eyes again. "What do you mean?" he said, almost angrily.

"Cas is gonna send Gail and Sam back to the day of the accident," Bobby told Dean.

Dean's eyes widened. "What?"

"I'll make sure he never gets in that car," Gail said to Dean, putting her hand on his arm. "Then the accident will never have happened."

Dean looked at them all suspiciously. "Just like that?" he said.

"Yeah, just like that," Bobby confirmed.

"Then why the freakin' hell didn't you do it sooner?" Dean said, raising his voice.

"Because we were hoping it wouldn't come to this," Cas said solemnly. "Time travel should only be used as a last resort."

"Why?" Dean asked him, puzzled. He remembered when Cas had sent him back in time before. Things had been a little hairy for a bit, but they'd turned out OK in the end.

"Time travel changes you," Cas replied. He glanced at Gail. "As you move through this life and this world, you change things slightly; you leave marks behind, however small they may be. And, in return, life - and travel - leaves marks on you." Cas winced inwardly at his choice of words, especially when he looked at Gail. Once again, he was reminding her of what she had suffered at his hands, and just before she was about to go back, too. Great. As if she didn't have enough reason to hate him. Their great strides in the months since the accident would be erased in her mind. But he hadn't been able to think of any other way to convey what he'd needed to say.

What Cas was saying gave Dean pause for a moment. Was he trying to say that Sam and Gail might come back changed? Different, somehow? And if so, how different would they be? He looked at Cas questioningly. "Save me the Angel-speak, Cas. You sent me and Sam back to the 1800s, and we didn't come back any different."

"Maybe so," Cas replied. "But there are no guarantees. That's why time travel is to be used very sparingly."

Dean looked at Gail. "Are you OK with this?" he asked her. Now he was a little worried. He wanted Sam back, but would there be a price tag attached? Wasn't there always? Look at what had happened with Cas.

"Yeah, Dean," Gail replied, giving his arm a brief squeeze. "We have to get our Sam back."

Dean sighed. There was no way he couldn't go along with this, misgivings aside. "OK, what do we do?"

"Leave it to me," Cas said. He gestured to Gail to come over to Sam's bedside. When she did, he looked down at her. "I'm going to put one hand on your head, and the other on Sam's," Cas told her. Then he smiled grimly. "It's a good thing I haven't had to perform anything in a while. I'll be at full strength now." As it was, he wasn't looking forward to the way he was going to feel afterwards. Effecting time travel always took a lot out of him.

"OK, Cas, I'm ready," Gail said. She glanced at Bobby, then at Dean. She gave Dean a thumbs-up. "I've got this, Dean. Sam and I will see you soon." Then she looked up at Cas. "Before you do it, I have one thing to say," she told him. "I love you, and that will never change." Perhaps she'd sensed what he had been thinking. When she and Sam came back, Sam would be warm and compassionate to her, and Cas would once again be the bad guy she was trying to stay away from.

Cas smiled, appreciating her comment. He hoped that was true. But their Father obviously required this sacrifice from him, and Cas had to trust that he could continue to mold himself into the kind of man that she deserved.

He leaned down to kiss her. It would probably be the last time in quite a while that he would get to do it, and he wanted to carry the memory with him, even if Gail would not remember. He started to open her mouth gently with his tongue, but then Cas hesitated. Should he be doing this? Probably not, not here and not now. But then she surprised him by opening her mouth and giving him her tongue in return. They kissed like that for a moment, and then she touched his face with both of her hands. They came out of the kiss, and Cas pressed both of her hands to his face, wanting to fix the sensation in his memory.

"I love you, Gail," he told her, trying to smile. "If you don't remember anything else, please remember that."

Gail nodded. "I will, Cas."

Then Cas put his hand on her forehead, and he leaned over to put his other hand on Sam's. He closed his eyes to concentrate, summoning up maximum power. His hands started to glow, and soon the glow was so bright that Dean and Bobby had to shield their eyes.

And when Cas opened his eyes, Gail and Sam were gone.

Gail smiled sadly as she watched Kevin and Becky, holding hands and watching TV. It was sweet, but it made her heart hurt. She and Cas used to cuddle and watch TV together, and she missed that. For the umpteenth time, she wondered what Cas was doing now, and how he was doing. Was he happy? Was he depressed? Which one did she want him to be? She hadn't been able to bring herself to pick up the phone and call him. She didn't feel nearly ready enough. She had been busy and productive in Heaven, but Gail still cried every night, and she was afraid she'd start up again if she heard his voice. But he hadn't called her, either. Maybe he was just giving her her space, or maybe he was too busy. Could he be moving on? Maybe he thought it was best this way. And, maybe it was. She sighed.

Sam leaned over her shoulder. "We're out of paper again," he said into her ear. His breath tickled, and Gail smiled up at him. But then she frowned. Damn. She'd really wanted to finish this section.

"I'll go to the store and get some more," Sam offered. "Dean's still working on the Impala, but he never lets me drive it anyway." He grinned. "I'll take one of the other cars. Be back in a minute."

Gail watched him as he started to walk down the corridor. "Wait up, Sam," she blurted out.

He paused, looking back at her. She was rising slowly from her chair, staring at him. "What, Gail?" he asked her. "Do you want to come along?" Sam hoped she did. She had been working way too hard lately, and she could use the break. He enjoyed riding in the car with her. They would find some pop music on the radio, the kind that Dean hated the most. Gail would turn the volume up, saying, "In your face, Dean," and she would seat-dance. That never failed to make Sam smile. Sam was no idiot, and he wasn't oblivious. He knew that Gail was still depressed over Cas. But she had her good moments too, and Sam was determined to do everything he could to make sure she turned the corner.

But suddenly, Gail didn't want Sam to go at all. They had both been brought back here by Cas to re-live their day, blissfully unaware of anything that had happened after this moment, but Gail felt a sudden sense of foreboding now. She had these feelings from time to time still, and she had learned to trust them. She approached Sam, and the feeling got stronger. She couldn't let him get in that car.

"Don't go, Sam," she said. "Stay here."

Sam looked at her curiously. "I'll only be a minute. Why don't you take a break and watch some TV with 'the kids'?" He smiled. That was what she affectionately called Kevin and Becky sometimes. "I'll help you with the translations when I get back."

He turned to walk down the hall again, and Gail trailed behind him, trying to grab him. "Sam, don't go," she repeated. She was starting to panic now, trying to grab hold of him. She finally caught the back of his shirt and tugged on it just as he reached the garage door. He sighed, turning around again. "What's going on, Gail?"

"I'm getting one of my feelings," Gail told him. "You can't get in that car, Sam. Please."

Sam smiled down at her. He knew she got these feelings from time to time, but he really wanted the fresh air. And he knew she really needed the paper, or she wouldn't be able to finish. "It'll be OK, Gail," Sam said, putting his hands on her shoulders. But he did so gently. Most of her injuries were healing nicely, but Sam always made a point to be gentle with her.

"No, it won't," Gail argued. "I don't want you getting in that car, Sam. Please."

Sam rolled his eyes, but he was still smiling. "OK, come with me, then," he said to her. "You can play your music, as loud as you want," he added as an enticement.

Gail paused. She didn't want him to get in the car at all, but she had no idea why. He seemed hell-bent on going, though. Was she supposed to go with him, maybe? She had no particular intuition about that, one way or the other. Maybe that was it. Maybe she was supposed to go along too, for some reason. Maybe he was going to get hurt if he ended up going by himself; if she went along, she could heal him. Perhaps that was why she didn't want him to get in that car.

"OK, Sam, you're on," she said, and they went into the garage. Dean and Frank had their heads under the hood of the Impala, and she and Sam exchanged smiles. Their brothers, the car nuts.

"We'll be back in a few minutes," Sam announced, and Dean waved his arm, mumbling something.

"What he said," Gail quipped, and Sam laughed.

Then they were on the road, and the music was blasting. Gail was seat-dancing, and Sam was laughing, and they were having fun together. This was the way things were supposed to be, Gail thought. No drama, no crying, and no pain.

But then the song ended, and Sam turned the radio down. "I love seeing you like this," he said to her. "We should do this more often."

Gail smiled at him. "Maybe we will, Sam," she said.

And because the music was turned down this time and Gail was looking at Sam instead of looking out the window and brooding, she saw the headlights of the approaching truck on Sam's side. Sam was looking at her, and so he didn't see them right away. They were stopped at the lights, and there was traffic going in both directions across the intersection. Oh, God, Gail thought. They were screwed.

"Step on the gas, Sam!" Gail yelled, and when he hesitated, she screamed at the top of her lungs, "DO IT! FLOOR IT, RIGHT NOW!"

Sam's eyes grew wide, but he did as she asked. Gail grabbed at the steering wheel with both hands and pulled as hard as she could, and the car spun around. The runaway truck still hit them head-on, but because Gail had turned them around, it hit on her side.

"They're back," Bobby announced to Dean and Cas. Dean leaped off the empty bed, where he had been perched, waiting, tense and ready for anything. Cas was still slumped in the chair. He'd been spent from the energy it had taken to send Sam and Gail back, and he had collapsed into the chair immediately afterwards, and had not moved since. Bobby had been nervously pacing the floor.

Bobby stopped pacing now. "They've been brought into the emergency room here."

"What the hell, Bobby?" Dean yelled. "I thought the accident was never supposed to happen!"

Cas groaned, but he still didn't rise from the chair. What had gone wrong? Then, he did stir. Gail would be hurt, and she would need him. But, who was he kidding? He couldn't heal a paper cut right now. Bobby would have to do it. Still, Cas could be there for her, at least to hold her hand. And, what about Sam?

But incredibly, Bobby was smiling.

"What's so freakin' funny?" Dean said angrily.

"Gail sent me a message. She couldn't keep Sam from getting in the car, so she hauled on the wheel at the last second and turned the car around. The truck hit on Gail's side, and Sam's only got a broken leg, and some cuts and bruises. The same as Gail had," Bobby told them. Not exactly the way they'd envisioned, but she'd gotten the job done, and he was proud of her. Angel or not, that must have taken a lot of courage.

Cas jumped up from the chair. "She took the impact?" he said, his face turning ashen.

Bobby felt for the guy, but he continued to smile. "She'll be OK, Cas. She's an Angel, remember?"

Cas knew that, of course, but...her poor body. Angel or not, she would be in considerable pain right now. "Let's go," he said, and rushed out of the room.

Dean and Bobby exchanged grins. So much for the rigours of time travel.

Gail was lying on the gurney when Cas burst in. He hadn't bothered to ask permission this time; no one was going to keep him out of here.

She was startled to see him. Bobby must have called him, or something. Cas rushed to her side and Gail struggled to sit up, but he eased her back down.

"Ohhh," she groaned. "Boy, did that hurt."

Cas lifted the sheet to look at her injuries, and he was horrified. She had bandages in pretty much every place imaginable, and the blood was starting to seep through in a few places. So was the bandage on her head. It appeared as though she had pretty much the same injuries as Sam had had, including the head injury. That was the one that had been the most severe, and the one that had caused Sam to go into the coma in the first place. But Angels didn't suffer comas. And the head wound didn't look quite as severe as Sam's had been. Perhaps because Sam was taller, the blow had been more direct.

Cas unwound the bandage from around her head. He wasn't sure if he'd be able to do it, but he really wanted to try to heal at least this one. He'd probably have to send Bobby in for the rest, but he wanted Gail's first new memory of him to be one of gentle healing. Fortunately, though it was bloody, it didn't look too severe, once he got the bandage off. He put both of his hands gently on her head and waited for the glow to come. Nothing. He closed his eyes and put everything he had left into it. Eventually, the glow did come, and then her injury was gone.

"Thanks," Gail said, but her voice sounded very far away. Cas opened his eyes and looked down at her face. Then he sank to his knees beside the gurney. That was it. He had nothing left.

"Cas?" she said, puzzled. "Cas!" What the hell was he doing? Was he praying? That was nice, but it was kind of a weird time to be doing it. "I'm sorry, Gail," he said weakly. "I can't do any more."

She struggled to sit up again. He wanted to help her, but Cas was too exhausted to move at the moment. "What's the matter with you?" Gail asked him.

Cas didn't know what to say. He could hardly tell her the real reason he was so drained, but he couldn't bring himself to lie to her, either. So he said nothing, and after a moment, Gail lay back down. Her body was in pain, and her head was reeling from the trauma of the accident and from seeing Cas like this. The first time she'd seen him in ages, and he was acting so strange. What had he been doing all this time? And why did he look like death warmed over?

Dean and Bobby were standing over Sam, who had just finished telling them the story of what had happened in the car. "I can't believe she did that," Sam told them, shaking his head slowly. "If Gail hadn't spun the car around, I'd be toast right now." He grimaced. "She'll be all right, won't she, Bobby? I know she's an Angel, but that truck hit us hard."

"Cas is with her," Bobby replied, and Sam frowned. He guessed he should have figured as much. Well, at least Cas could heal her. But he hoped Cas wasn't going to stick around too long, and he hoped Gail wasn't going to sink back into her depression after she'd seen him. Just because Cas had come here to see her in her hour of need didn't make everything OK again.

"Get me a wheelchair," Sam ordered Dean sharply. "I want to go see her."

Dean looked at his brother with a raised eyebrow. He was overjoyed to have Sammy back, but that had been a little bit of a weird tone for him to use. Still, even though Sam only had a broken leg and some bumps and bruises this time, he HAD just been through a bad car accident. Again. And he was probably feeling guilty about Gail having taken the brunt of it. Dean had to remind himself that Sam didn't know what he and Bobby knew; that this was the second time Sam and Gail had had this same accident, and Gail had obviously just improvised, since she apparently hadn't been able to stop Sam from getting into the damn car. Dean would have to give her a big hug and a kiss when he saw her. If her injuries could withstand it, of course. He winced. Poor Gail. She'd been hurt plenty in the last few months, one way or another. He would have to try to make it up to her somehow. Maybe he could help Cas in his efforts to win her back, too. Dean owed both of them, big time, for returning Sam to him.

Gail was lying on the gurney with her eyes closed and Cas was slumped on the floor with his head against the leg of the gurney. He smiled weakly as the men came in.

"Hi, Sam," Cas said.

Sam looked at Cas strangely. What the hell was he doing? Gail was laying there seriously wounded, and Cas was laying on the floor? What was he doing, napping? Sam thought sarcastically.

But Dean and Bobby rushed forward and picked Cas up off the floor, easing him into the chair beside the gurney Gail was laying on. "You just rest, Cas," Bobby said in a surprisingly tender tone. "I'll take it from here." Bobby had seen the bloody bandage in the garbage bin, and he could put two and two together. Cas had started to heal Gail, and he'd run out of juice. But Bobby felt warm and affectionate towards Cas right now. Not too long ago, Bobby had seriously considered killing Cas, but now he was very glad he hadn't.

Bobby turned to Gail. "Hi, Bobby," she said softly. "Cas started to heal me, but he stopped for some reason." Then she saw Sam, and her eyes lit up. "Sam! How are you?" she asked him.

"Busted leg, a few bumps and bruises," he said with a shrug. "How are YOU?"

"Sore as hell, but I'll be OK," Gail replied.

"Yes, you will," Bobby told her. "I'll just be a minute, boys." He drew the drapes around himself and Gail for privacy. "I'm sorry, Gail, but I'll have to..." He gestured towards the bandages.

"It's OK, Bobby," she said, smiling. "You're God. If I can't trust you, who can I trust? It's on our money, and everything."

Bobby's beard twitched furiously. No wonder the boys loved her so much. And so did Bobby, especially now. She had brought Sam back to them, and she had sacrificed her poor body to do it, too. Well, he was going to fix that for her, right now.

He gently removed the bandages and waved his hands over her. The white glow emanated from his hands and her wounds started to heal. Outside the drapes, Dean was keeping watch on the door. This would be impossible to explain if someone came in right now. He saw a number of people pass by, but so far, no one was attempting to come in. Still: "Wanna hurry it up, Bobby?" Dean said nervously.

Bobby pulled the drapes open. "Fast enough for ya?" he said dryly.

Gail sat up on the gurney, smiling. Bobby had healed all of her open wounds, and all she had left now were a few bruises and abrasions. She'd received worse from Cas, she thought wryly. She looked at Cas now. He was still slumped in the chair, but he was smiling at seeing her whole again. Bobby had even conjured her up jeans and a top. "Good to go, gentlemen," she said cheerfully.

She hopped off the table and made a beeline for Sam. "Are you going to be OK?" she asked him, putting her hand on his shoulder.

"I'll be fine," he told her. He grabbed her hand and held it in both of his. "I can't believe you did that," Sam said to her. "You saved my life."

Gail smiled. "Then those temporary owies were well worth it." She bent down and kissed him on the cheek, and Sam put his arm around her waist and gave her a gentle squeeze.

This was killing Cas. He tried to remind himself that the two of them had just been through a traumatic accident together, and that Gail had no memory of what had actually taken place in the last few months. But to see her like that with Sam was really hard for him to take.

Bobby was looking at Cas, and he understood how he must be feeling. They had the reset they'd wanted, but now poor Cas was going to be left out in the cold again. He gave Cas a wink for encouragement. Gail may think that there were a lot of things Bobby couldn't do, but there were still some things that he could.

Meanwhile, Dean had grabbed Gail, and he was enveloping her in a huge bear hug. Gail hugged him back for a moment, but then she started to protest, "Dean, you're squishing me." He let her go, but then he touched her face, continuing to stare at her.

"What?" Gail asked him.

"Nothing, just..." Dean was smiling. He wished he could tell her how grateful he was for what she had just done for him, and for Sam. But he couldn't, of course. As far as Gail and Sam were concerned, this was the first time they'd had the accident. Bobby had cautioned Dean that only Cas, Dean, and Bobby himself would know what had transpired after the original accident. As far as anyone else knew, the last few months had never happened. It was a total reset. Heaven's new laws still had yet to be hammered out, and Cas's workmates on the TV show had never taken him to the fair. Square One.

So Dean just continued to smile at Gail until she rolled her eyes. "Did you share your painkillers with Dean?" she asked Sam. "He's acting weird."

"I'm just glad you're all right," Dean said to her. He looked down at Sam. "I'm just glad you're both all right."

"Maybe we should bring the wheelchair home with us," Gail said to Sam. "This will be the only time in my life I'll be taller than you. And even then, just barely."

Sam grinned. "I'm gonna get some crutches before we leave. I'll need your help for a while, though, Gail."

She made a small bow. "Of course. I am at your service, sir."

Sam continued to smile. This could have some benefits. They'd been spending a fair amount of time together poring over the translations anyway, but now he'd have a ready-made excuse for her to touch him.

Suddenly, Frank came bursting into the room. "Finally, I found you guys!" he said breathlessly. "Kevin told me you were here. I went from room to room, looking for you. Is everybody OK? What happened?"

Sam told Frank about the truck hitting them, and he made sure to emphasize that it was Gail's heroic action that had saved his life.

"My sister," Frank said proudly. He gave Gail a hug. "Are you OK?" he asked her. "You look OK."

"I wasn't a few minutes ago, but Bobby healed me," Gail told him. "Thanks, by the way," she added, looking at Bobby, who was standing next to Cas.

Bobby waved his hand in dismissal. "Glad to do it."

Gail looked at Cas, who was still seated and still looking worn out. "What's going on, Cas?" she asked him. "Why do you look like that?"

"Guilt will do that to you," Frank said, frowning at Cas.

Gail looked at her brother coolly, but she said nothing. They'd had a lot of heart-to-heart talks in the bunker since Cas had gone. Sometimes it was just her and Frank, and sometimes Sam and Dean had been there. Sam and Frank were still standing together in their anger at Cas, while Dean seemed a little more open-minded. Gail herself vacillated in her feelings toward Cas. She still had bad days, when the horrible pictures in her head wouldn't go away. Cas injecting her with the first needle, and then forcing himself on her. Messing with her memory so she'd think she had given him her arm willingly. That one had been the hardest one, and the one that had finally made her snap her suitcase shut and move into the bunker. Even though he had eventually come clean about it, how could she be with him in the future if she couldn't trust him? The physical scars would heal, and quite honestly, she had enjoyed a lot of the things that Cas had done to her while they'd had their clothes off, but he had messed with her mind and he had messed with her heart, and that was unacceptable to her.

But now Cas had come rushing in here, and he had started to heal her like he really cared about her, but then he had stopped. Why? Did he not care that she was in pain? Lord only knew he hadn't cared when he had been a Demon. She had shown him her badly injured body a couple of times then, trying to get him to see and acknowledge her pain, but the only thing he'd seemed to be concerned about at the time was their friends' discovery of her condition. Castiel had even "authorized" Crowley to heal her, in preparation for their visit to the bunker, so they could hide it from the men. But then he had turned around and done it to her again, and then again.

Gail knew that Cas was back to being an Angel now, and that the Demon was totally gone. She ought to; she had poured the cure down his throat herself. But she didn't feel it yet. She still had so many bad feelings about that period in their lives that she had to sort out. He had been brutal. But it wasn't his fault; he'd had a disease. But that didn't excuse everything, did it? And even if it did, or if she was able to pretend that it did, what was she supposed to do with all the memories she had of the blood, and the pain?

Cas was looking at Gail and Frank, who were standing with Sam and Dean. The happy little family unit. He used to be in that circle too, but now Sam, Frank, and even Gail were regarding him with total antipathy. Only Dean and Bobby looked sympathetic.

"Come on, let's go home," Dean said, grabbing the handles on Sam's wheelchair. He started to turn it around, then he stopped and looked at Cas for a moment. They made eye contact. Dean would love to have Cas come over to the bunker for Sam's homecoming, too. Cas had all but drained his batteries sending Gail and Sam back, and Dean still owed him. But Cas gave Dean a slight shake of the head. Cas knew he wouldn't be welcome at the bunker, not yet.

Dean frowned momentarily, but then he turned back to the group.

"Are you coming, Bobby?" Sam asked him.

"In a minute," Bobby told them. "You guys go ahead. You'll have to get Sam checked out, anyway. Just don't let anybody see Gail. We don't want anyone asking too many questions."

Gail smiled. "OK, I'll just pop Frank home, then. By the time anybody comes in here, presumably they'll just think I've been sent home." She put her hand on Frank's arm, then glanced at Cas. "Thanks for coming," she said to him, "and thanks for - " She gestured to her head. Gail supposed she should at least thank him for that, anyway. Although why he had looked at her other injuries without healing them, and why he still looked so worn out, was a mystery to her. Maybe she'd ask Bobby about that when he showed up at the bunker.

Cas smiled at her. "You're welcome," he said softly. There was so much more he would like to say to her, but he knew that now was not the time. Just the fact that she had looked directly at him and thanked him would have to be enough for now.

After Gail and the men left, Cas looked at Bobby. "I think I'm going to need a little help, Bobby," he said, sighing.

"That's what I figured," Bobby said, nodding. "That's one reason I hung back." He knew that Cas probably didn't have enough juice left to wink himself back home. If he'd had anything left at all, he would have healed all of Gail's wounds and then probably checked to see if she had a broken fingernail, while he was at it. Bobby smiled to himself at that thought.

He grabbed Cas's arm and brought them both to Cas's apartment. "Sit down, have a rest," Bobby told him. Cas sank down on the couch and Bobby took the chair he'd occupied earlier.

"I just wanted to talk to you for a minute," Bobby said to him.

"I know what you're going to say, Bobby," Cas said wearily, holding his hand to his forehead. He was getting a slight headache now. "You and I and Dean are the only ones for whom time advanced. Now that the reset has been accomplished, we're back to several months ago." Cas looked at the table, where he had been studying the rulebook for the final clause they were going to review tomorrow. Sure enough, his notes were gone. None of that had happened yet; he had not even been to his first board meeting, because Gail had never invited him. Unfortunately, that also meant that Cas had no envelope stuffed with money to give to Richard for the battered womens' charity. He made a mental note to visit the poker room as soon as possible to start a new envelope. Too bad he wouldn't be able to add the pot that Gail had won, Cas thought, and that made him sad. That had been one of his favourite recent memories. But on the bright side, Sam would not require long-term care now, so Cas didn't need to keep a separate envelope for Dean. As he would not have to divide up the money, he should be able to give Richard more. And the reset also meant that Cas had not yet made his request to Richard to visit the shelter; he made another mental note to make that request when he gave Richard the donation again.

But, wait: If time was reset now, there could be a wonderful bonus, one he had not thought of. Cas's pulse quickened, and he found the strength to rise from the couch.

"Just a minute, Bobby, I'll be right back," he said excitedly. Cas rushed to the bedroom, turned on the light, and there it was, propped up against the lamp on the nightstand: Gail's photo!

He picked it up and stared at it for a moment, then his face broke into a grin. Castiel supposed there was something to the saying that every cloud has a silver lining, and this was certainly his. He had been feeling sad, but now he felt happy. His Father had given him his own do-over.

Then, when Cas came back into the living room, Bobby gave him another boost. "I don't usually get involved in this kind of stuff, but in this case I'll make an exception," Bobby said, as Cas looked at him, curious. Bobby's beard twitched. "I want to invite you to your first board meeting tomorrow. At least, as far as anyone there will know."

They smiled at each other. It would hardly be Cas's first, but now that they had gone back, as far as any of the Angels on the board would know, it would be.

"It's a damn shame, though," Bobby continued. "I'll have to throw everything we've already accomplished into the shredder when I get back."

Cas thought about that, and then he thought of something else. "How do you think Gail will react?" he asked Bobby.

Bobby shrugged. "I'm the boss. I'll just tell her that I want you there."

Cas's lips twitched. "That will probably make her mad," he said.

"Yeah, it probably will." Bobby sighed. "Look, Cas, you're gonna have to take it slow with her. Remember, she's starting back near the beginning again. I'll help however I can, but things are different now."

Cas nodded. He remembered.

"But I've gotta tell you something, Cas." Bobby's expression was serious now, and he leaned forward in his chair to make his point. "I was royally pissed off at you for the longest time, and you know how close I came a few times."

They sat there, silent and somber. Cas knew very well what Bobby was referring to; he'd seen the holy fire obliterate his and Gail's house. Fortunately, Cas had been standing outside the house at the time. He could very well have been inside of it.

"But you and Gail have returned Sam to Dean, and to me, and I'm damn grateful to you for that." Bobby's voice turned gruff, and Cas knew that his friend was fighting to keep his emotions in check. "And I know that you had a disease, and that you're cured now. So I guess what I'm trying to say is that I forgive you, Cas, and I'll do my best to help you reconcile with Gail. But she's her own woman, Cas. We have to respect that."

Cas nodded again. He was touched by what Bobby had said, and it meant a lot to him to have Bobby's forgiveness. An awful lot. Cas felt choked up too, but he knew that if he showed his emotion, Bobby would become uncomfortable. So Cas swallowed the lump in his throat, and he smiled instead. "She certainly is, Bobby. She certainly is," he said warmly.

Bobby stood then. He'd better get out of here before things got really maudlin. He put his hand out and Cas shook it. "Come to the boardroom tomorrow morning for 9 a.m.," Bobby told Cas.

"I'll be there," Cas told him.

Then Bobby was gone.

Gail was indeed angry, and she was a little scared as well, though she would never admit to the latter. She wasn't scared of Cas, though; she was scared of herself, and of the feelings she still had for him.

"Why would you invite Cas to the board meetings?" she asked Bobby. "I know you kept him on the slate, but he really doesn't need to be there. We don't need him to be there. I don't need him to be there," she added, emphasizing that last point. Here she was, trying to get over him, and now Bobby was going to make her sit down at the table with him.

Dean winced. Now he was glad that Cas hadn't come back with them. It would have killed him to hear her say that.

Gail saw his look. "What?" she asked Dean angrily.

"Maybe you should give the guy a bit of a break," Dean said uncomfortably.

Gail looked at Sam incredulously, gesturing to Dean. "Can you believe him?" she asked Sam.

"A break?" Sam said sarcastically. "We should give him a break? Why? What kind of a break did he give Gail?"

"He had a disease," Dean argued. "And he's cured now."

"But I'm not cured!" Gail said, raising her voice. "What about the pictures in my head, Dean? What about those?" She knew he knew what she was talking about. They had sat around this same table for weeks now, talking about the fact that she couldn't seem to stop picturing Cas, holding her down and sticking the needle in her arm. And now Bobby was going to make her look at the real thing every day? How could he be so cruel?

"Look, Gail," Bobby said. "Nobody's minimizing what you went through. I just think that Cas has a right to have a say in the drafting of the new laws. He was one of the original Angels, after all. Maybe he can help you with some of the translations."

"Oh. Well, if you're inviting original Angels, why don't you invite Crowley too, while you're at it? Or why not Metatron, or Lucifer? We can get the whole merry band back together!" Gail said bitterly. "And then Lucifer can tell me what a baby I'm being. Maybe he and Metatron can hold me down while Cas - " Her voice broke. None of these guys understood, so what was the point? Her feelings were complex on the subject. They didn't know what it was like to be betrayed by the one who was supposed to love you the most. They didn't know how it felt to be held down and entered roughly, and then to be told you had liked it. And they didn't know the fear that you felt when you realized you actually had kind of liked it. And they certainly didn't know that she lay in bed every night missing Cas so badly that she felt like marching over to the weapons room and picking up an Angel blade, putting an end to it, once and for all. But she didn't miss the brutal, violent Cas, only the loving and sensual one. And he could be that to her, now that he was cured, if she would only say so. But she made herself stay away from him. There was no longer anything wrong with Cas, at least not as far as the disease was concerned. But Gail knew there was still something very wrong inside of him, and inside herself, too. What kind of individuals were they? Did they really think so little of themselves that they'd been happy to take their personal pain out on each other? Cas had dished it out and Gail had taken it, and then she had come back and asked for seconds. If she went back to him now, it would be like admitting that her feelings were insignificant. And that she herself was insignificant.

And what about Cas? Now that he was an Angel again, what did that even mean? Was he working on becoming a better one? Or was he just trying to pretend that what had happened between them had never even happened? Why was he coming to the board meetings, anyway? He'd always hated those. Was it to see her? Or did he suddenly care about revising the ancient laws? And why was she wasting so much time and energy speculating about where his head was at? Why didn't she just screw up the courage and ask him herself? Stop all this passive-aggressive nonsense? But Gail knew the answer to that one, too. The instant she looked Cas in the eyes, she would be a basket case for weeks. Bobby had finally gotten her out of the bedroom and into the boardroom, and she felt like a better version of herself when she was chairing the meetings. Everyone seemed to respect her opinions, and Gail felt smart and competent when she was there. And the Angels on the board laughed at her jokes. Well, most of them did, anyway. Sometimes she would use a pop culture reference or a slang phrase, and Patricia and a couple of the other older Angels would look at her, puzzled. Gail would shrug then; you couldn't win them all. But then she would feel sad, thinking of how Castiel used to be like that when she'd first met him, and then the depression would set in again.

Everything kept coming back to Cas, and here they were, sitting around arguing about him, for the thousandth time. He was the elephant in the room, even when he wasn't in the room. Frank and Sam were vociferous in their contempt for Cas, while Dean had seemed more inclined to excuse everything that Cas had done as a by-product of the disease. And Bobby had always stayed out of it, not expressing an opinion one way or the other.

But ever since they'd gotten back from the hospital earlier, Gail had noticed that Dean's and Bobby's attitudes towards Cas seemed to have radically changed. They were both now openly and avidly defending him, and it seemed to Gail like they were trying to get her to feel sorry for Cas. What had changed so drastically since this morning? Yes, Cas had rushed to the hospital to see her, but so what? She would have rushed to the hospital to see him too, if the situation had been reversed. They had a history together. And she would have healed all of his injuries too, she fumed, not just the one. Why had he stopped? Did he like seeing her with injuries all over her body? Feel nostalgic for the old Demon days, maybe?

"Why didn't he heal me when he came to see me at the hospital?" Gail asked Bobby suddenly.

"Yeah, why didn't he?" Frank chimed in. He'd been wondering that, too. Here Dean and Bobby were, extolling the guy's virtues, but he seemed like the same old Cas to Frank. Was he one of those weird kind of guys who got off on seeing women in pain? Frank already disliked Cas, maybe even hated him, and that thought wasn't helping. But Frank figured he'd better not share it. Even though Bobby had encouraged open and honest communication, ever since they had all sat down here that day and talked about their feelings, Cas included. Frank didn't know if Gail was ready to hear what he really thought about Cas. And Frank also didn't know if he would be ready to hear what she might have to say in response. She had alluded to it when it had been just him and her, brother and sister, having a very adult conversation over a bottle of whiskey. But Cas had been a Demon then, and so had Gail. Of course Cas had dealt it rough; so had Frank, when he had lain with Odette. And Frank could have understood that, even though he could never have forgiven Cas for it. But Frank didn't want to broach the subject because he was afraid that Gail would look him in the eye and tell him that she wanted to go back to Cas for more of the same.

Sam knew Cas a lot better than Frank did, and so he could have told Frank that he was barking up the wrong tree there. The real Cas would never hurt a hair on Gail's head, and Sam knew that Gail wasn't into being hurt, either. What prompted Sam's contempt for Cas now was that Sam felt that Cas had never actually paid for his sins. Gail seemed to be the only one doing the suffering. Sam had been trying to help her with that, but all he'd done so far was be open and available to her. But as they all sat around now, Sam was looking at Gail, thinking that he might step it up a bit. Life was too short; the accident they had been through tonight had illustrated that hard fact to Sam. If he just waited and did nothing, Gail would start to see Cas at the board meetings Bobby insisted that he had a right to attend, and then Cas would start to go to work on her. Having Cas as an Angel again was somehow worse. Gail would be able to stay away from Demon Cas; he had been brutal and cruel to her. But Angel Cas was a whole different ballgame. He would be kind, respectful, and solicitous to her, and then she would be putty in his hands. If Sam wanted to do something about Gail, he'd better move fast.

Cas was studying his blade, not with thoughts of suicide now, but just to pass the time. He was watching the clock, eager for the morning to come so he could get ready for the board meeting. He was excited at the prospect of seeing Gail again, but he reminded himself that she would probably not be very excited to see him. He wondered what her reaction had been when Bobby told her that Cas would be attending. He hoped she wasn't too angry about it.

Castiel started trying to read the markings on the hilt of his blade. Their lessons with Crowley had been abruptly put to a halt when Castiel had realized how wrong what they had been doing was, and then Castiel had given himself up to the Winchesters when he'd realized how dangerous the Demon in him was. But he had to admit that those sessions had been very instructive.

His headache had finally receded, but now it was threatening to come back as he studied the symbols. But Cas almost had this one, so he continued to stare. Then he had it. This group of markings stated that Castiel could create flowers and plants instantly, if he just concentrated. Cas smiled. If only he'd known that before; he could have given Gail a dozen fresh roses every day.

Still, now that he knew he could do it, Castiel saw no reason he shouldn't. He had now recovered from his exhaustion of before, and he was almost back to full power. Because the time jump had involved a matter of a few months only, rather than a couple of centuries, Castiel had been able to bounce back after a relatively short rest period. And the idea was too good to resist.

So Cas popped into the boardroom in Heaven, waved his hand, and conjured a bright, nice-smelling floral centrepiece for the table. Then he walked over to the chairs at one end, noticing that there was a gavel on the table in front of one of them. Gail's chair. He had sat here watching her chair the meeting for months now, and Bobby often sat in the chair beside her. Had Castiel ever actually told her how proud he was of her? He couldn't remember. But he supposed she wouldn't want to hear that from him right now. He'd be lucky if she didn't throw the gavel right at his head when he sat down.

He waved his hand over her spot and a dozen red roses appeared there, tied together with a blue ribbon. The blue was his personal touch. Hopefully it would remind her that his eyes were the right colour now, and so was his attitude.

Then he winked himself back to his apartment and resumed his clock-watching.

"He didn't heal you because he couldn't," Bobby told Gail.

"Why not?" she asked him. But now Gail remembered how weak Castiel had looked at the hospital, and how he had collapsed after healing her head wound. She put her hand on Bobby's arm. "Is there something wrong with him? Is he sick?" Gail asked nervously.

Bobby and Dean exchanged a brief glance. They'd known this was going to come up at some point, but Bobby had no idea what to say.

"He's not sick, Gail," Bobby assured her.

"Well, what, then?" she persisted.

Bobby sighed. "He's been doing a special project for me," he fibbed. But when you thought about it, it wasn't really a lie. "I guess I've been working him too hard."

Gail waited for Bobby to continue, but he stood up instead. "Well, I'm gonna go. I'm sure Laurel has a mound of paperwork for me to sign. Good times." He looked at Dean again, and they exchanged a smile. Good times, indeed. They had Sam back. Bobby clapped Sam on the shoulder. "Take it easy, Sam."

"That's it?" Gail said, bewildered. Was that all that Bobby was going to say?

He halted, looking at her coolly. "Yes, that's it, Gail." Then he disappeared.

Gail frowned at Sam. "What do you make of that?" she asked him.

Sam shrugged. He didn't really care. He grabbed his crutches and used them to help himself rise from his chair.

"I think I'll go get some rest," Sam announced.

"Good idea," Dean said, yawning. He was looking forward to the first good night's sleep he would have since before Sam had gone into that coma.

Sam deliberately tottered a bit. He actually had no problem walking with crutches; he had a lot of upper body strength from lifting weights in their gym room. But he wasn't above milking it for Gail's benefit. Well, actually, for his own. Sam didn't feel like waiting any more. It was only once Cas had gotten a little bolder that he'd gotten Gail's attention.

"Here, let me help you," Gail said, jumping up from her chair. She put her arm around Sam's waist and helped him move down the corridor to his room. Then she helped him inside, and he said, "Could you close the door for a minute, Gail? I want to talk to you in private," Sam said to her.

Gail frowned momentarily. What did he have to say to her that he couldn't say in front of the others? But then she shrugged. She and Sam had grown very close since Cas had been gone. Maybe Sam just wanted to talk about the accident they had just been through together.

She closed the door and turned back around, helping Sam over to the bed. He went to lean the crutches against the nightstand, but he overbalanced, and they both fell onto the bed.

"Sorry," Sam grinned. But this had been an unexpected bonus. He had merely been planning to talk to her, and he had been hoping to find an opportunity to initiate some physical contact at some point, but now here she was, underneath him on the bed.

Sam kissed her on the mouth, and Gail's eyes widened in surprise. He pried her mouth open with his tongue, and his hands moved underneath her top, caressing her.

Gail thought about Cas, and all the nights and mornings they had spent together in bed. "Sam," she murmured when he broke the kiss. "Please."

"I love you, Gail," Sam said. "You know that." One of his hands was touching over through her pants now, and she could feel how excited he was becoming. "I could make you feel good again. And there wouldn't be any pain, only pleasure." His hand started stroking her gently. She had loved it when Cas did that. She closed her eyes, picturing Cas's head between her legs, and her, watching Cas lick her. She started to move against Sam's hand. She had missed this feeling so much. The ancient laws stated that Angels couldn't do these things with each other, but they didn't seem to cover doing them with humans, apparently.

Sam kissed Gail again, and she gave him her tongue this time. But she was still picturing Cas, and as Sam continued to stroke her, she realized how wrong this was. It wasn't fair to Sam. She did love Sam, but she could never do this with him. She only wanted to be doing it with Cas.

"Sam," Gail said, breaking the kiss. His finger was still stroking her, and she was still moving against him, seemingly unable to stop herself. "You've got to stop, Sam."

But he didn't stop, and neither did she. Her breath was becoming ragged now, and a whimper escaped her. But she tried again. "Sam, please."

"Does it feel good?" he asked her softly.

"Yes, but - " her voice caught, and she made a sound that Sam recognized very well. He'd heard it coming out of her and Cas's room enough times.

"Well then, go with it," Sam said, smiling.

"It's not fair to you," she protested. "I'm thinking about Cas."

Sam's hand paused. Damn. It didn't really surprise him; he knew she was still hung up on Cas. But he had liked being here like this with her, and Sam knew that he had been making her feel good. Did it really matter? He resumed, and Gail was sorely tempted for a moment to just let herself go. But it wouldn't be right. How would she feel if she saw Cas doing this to another woman? Now she felt awful, and she felt guilty. But Gail hadn't seen this coming. Sam was being so aggressive. She'd never seen him like this before. Of course she knew how he felt about her, but there was no way Gail could do anything like this with him.

She grabbed Sam's wrist and pulled his hand away from her, and then she sat up so she wouldn't be tempted to just let him put it right back there. Whew. That had been close.

"I can't do this with you, Sam," she told him.

"I know," he said, nodding. "You need more time."

"No." Gail shook her head. "It's never going to happen, Sam. I may or may not get back together with Cas, but I still love him, and I feel like this is cheating on him."

Sam snorted in derision. "After all the crap he pulled on you? You're not together any more, Gail. You're not doing anything wrong here." He tried to pull her back down, but Gail shook him off and scrambled off the bed.

"What's the matter with you, Sam? You're acting like he used to!" Gail exclaimed.

Sam's heart sank. He was, too. What was the matter with him? This was not what he was like. But ever since that truck had hit them, Sam had been feeling a little different, somehow. He didn't want to be overbearing with Gail, but he didn't want to just sit passively and let her run back to Cas, either. But Sam's thoughts and emotions were confusing to him. Did he really love Gail, or did he just not want Cas to have her? She was a person, not a possession. So why had he felt an overwhelming urge to possess her a moment ago?

"I'm sorry, Gail. I don't know what came over me," Sam told her.

"Get some rest, Sam," she said shakily. "We'll talk more in the morning." Then she opened the door to his bedroom and walked out, closing it softly behind her.

No. No, no, no. What had they done? God shook His head. He had given up on trying to fix the situation. After He had meted out Castiel's punishments, God had been pleased. His Son had taken them like a trouper, and even though they could have been much worse, God had tempered His hand, making allowances for the fact that Castiel himself had also been a victim in all of this. It was actually his Father's fault that Castiel had been infected in the first place. But Cas had gotten down on his knees and thanked his Father, and then he had asked for God to please awaken Sam. And God had been about to do it, too. He was going to wait for the next day, and the ratification of Heaven's new laws. Once Bobby put His seal on the document and Castiel and Gail kissed, God had been planning to awaken Sam, to put the capper on the most glorious of days for His children.

But then they had pulled that time-travel stunt, and now everything was messed up again. This was what happened when Free Will was allowed to go unchecked. But, wasn't the current mess also God's fault? After all, He had put the two of them in that car and sent the truck to hit them in the first place. On and on it went. Once God had pulled one thread out of the sweater, the whole thing had begun to come unraveled.

He was pleased, however, that the time travel reset had returned Gail's photo. Even God hadn't seen that one coming. He'd set everything up perfectly, including Oliver's unscheduled, day-off visit, but the idiot had actually dropped the photo into the flame, when he was just supposed to scare Castiel with the possibility that he might.

But the photo was back now, and God was also pleased that his Son seemed to be taking this latest setback with equanimity and moving ahead with his plans to exhibit the Virtues. And God guessed He couldn't really blame them for pulling that crazy stunt. There was no Dean without Sam, and vice versa. Damn Death, anyway. He was the one who had made up the list of beings who were designated for the Netherworld. God had told Death to go ahead at the time, and then He had promptly forgotten about it. Who cared, anyway? That was Death's business; God concerned Himself with the living, mainly. But now God wondered if He should have given Death such autonomy. Even God did not know who was on that list, and Bobby only thought he knew, but Bobby only had a partial draft of that list. Death had the only copy of the list, and he could add to it or subtract from it at any time, as was his whim. If he went to Italy and had a wonderful pasta dinner and a glass of good wine, Death would sometimes feel mellow enough to cross a few names off the list. But then, if he went to Germany and had some sauerkraut and bratwurst, he might add some others on. For some reason, German food always gave Death indigestion, yet he insisted on eating it from time to time. Maybe it made him feel sentimental; things had seldom been more productive than they had been during those eras. But it also reminded Death of all the beings that he'd felt had wronged him over the centuries, and if he had felt an unfortunate comfort food-fuelled wave of sympathy for those same individuals in Italy, once he'd gotten to Germany, back on the list they went.

But God had given Death the free hand, and there was nothing the Supreme Father could do about it now.

But the scene that God had just witnessed between Sam and Gail had distressed Him greatly, even though it had only taken place in Sam's fantasies. Gail had indeed helped him to his room, but she had merely said goodnight to Sam and then left. The rest had only been in Sam's imagination. For a moment, he had seriously considered pulling Gail down on the bed and kissing her, at the very least. See how she responded. But Sam knew that she wouldn't, at least not in the way that he wanted her to. When she'd told him in his fantasy that she was thinking of Cas when Sam was touching her so intimately, Sam could believe that was exactly what would happen if he were to attempt that. So he had restrained himself. She wasn't nearly ready for anything like that yet. But how could he get her mind off Cas and onto him? Sam would have to sleep on that.

God frowned. Castiel had spoken the absolute truth when he'd told Dean that time travel had the potential to leave marks on an individual's soul, and that was what had happened here. Sam and Gail had transcended time, and because they had altered what was meant to be, there had been a boomerang effect. A small chunk had been taken out of Sam's soul, and now Sam felt like the lines between right and wrong could be blurred sometimes. Much like you could take your foot and drag it along the chalk lines at the ballfield. Fair/foul, right/wrong. It was all relative sometimes. Cas had treated Gail like crap, and that was wrong. Then she had left Cas, which had been the right thing to do. But Sam wanted her for himself, and he had tried to apply any means necessary to make that happen. Was that right, or was it wrong? That was definitely one of those blurred-chalk areas. Sam would treat Gail right, both in the bedroom and out of it, so that was all right. But if she still loved Cas, which she apparently did, and if Cas still loved her, which he clearly did, was it right for Sam to try to come between them? Probably not. But, did he care? No, not really. Didn't Sam deserve to be happy, too?

God heard all of Sam's thoughts, and more. He was also aware that Becky knew now of Sam's feelings for Gail. Becky had seen the way that Sam was with Gail now, and Becky didn't like it one bit. This was so unfair. Becky had no idea what had been going on with Cas, of course, and why he and Gail weren't together at the moment. It was all very mysterious to her, and no one would tell her anything, not even Kevin. Becky had therefore concluded that Cas was on a super-secret mission for Heaven, and that was why no one could talk about it. They either didn't know themselves, or Bobby had sworn them to secrecy. Becky felt sure that Gail must know, though, but Gail was busy with her own stuff in Heaven, and when she wasn't, she always looked so sad. Well, it was no wonder. Becky knew how in love Cas and Gail were; Gail must be missing him terribly. Becky thought it was mean of Bobby to keep them apart like that, and one day she had screwed up the courage to say so to Bobby, but the look he had given her had been so sternly angry that Becky had shut her mouth abruptly.

But recently, Becky had noticed that Sam always seemed to be hovering around Gail. She couldn't help but notice it, because Becky was always looking at Sam; or, at least, she looked at him as often as she felt like she could get away with. Becky knew the bunker was Sam's home, and that he had volunteered to help Gail with the Enochian translations, but Becky had begun to sense that there was a lot more to it than that. Sam was always seeming to find excuses to touch Gail. And sometimes he wouldn't even use an excuse; he would just lean over and kiss her on the cheek or give her a hug out of the blue. And while Gail didn't seem to be reciprocating, she wasn't exactly pulling away, either. What the hell was going on with those two?

Maybe if Sam thought that Becky was available, she could pull him away from Gail long enough for him to give her a second look. He had found her vessel attractive enough in Vegas, and he had kissed her outside her hotel room there. But then he had found out who she really was, and then he had started acting all weird around her. But maybe that was because she was always here with Kevin, and Kevin was always holding her hand. He sometimes tried to put his arm around her when they were watching TV, and sometimes she would let him, if Sam wasn't around. Becky did like Kevin, and sometimes she felt kind of bad about leading him on, but she couldn't break up with him; he was her ticket to the bunker. It was Kevin that Bobby wanted in the bunker, to help Gail and Sam with the translations of the ancient laws. But Kevin had convinced Bobby to let Becky come along sometimes, which meant that she got to see Sam. But then Becky saw Sam all over Gail, and it was starting to make Becky mad. Then again, who was she supposed to be mad at? Bobby, for sending Cas away on his secret mission? Cas, for agreeing to go away without Gail? Kevin, for keeping Becky out of the loop of information so she had no clue as to what was going on? Or Sam, who was looking at Gail now like he wanted to be her boyfriend, instead of Cas?

Becky decided it was Gail who she was mad at. Gail got everything. All the guys were crazy about her, and she had that important job in Heaven. She walked around in Heaven now like she was the Vice-President or something, and she walked around the bunker like she owned the place. And she pretty much did, too; every time Gail snapped her fingers, all the men jumped. Must be nice to be the Queen of everything, Becky thought resentfully. She'd thought that Gail was her friend, but Gail barely even spoke to her these days. Maybe she thought that she was better than Becky now.

Gail wasn't oblivious to Becky's glares, but she figured she had better things to do than worry about Becky's problem, whatever that was. Could Becky have a crush on Sam, maybe? The way she kept looking at the two of them would seem to suggest that. Unless Becky had just been looking at her and Sam and wondering if Gail was cheating on Castiel with Sam. That wouldn't really surprise Gail. She liked Becky, but Becky thought like a romance novelist who wrote for a tabloid on the side. She had no clue what reality really was, so she just made up her own. If poor, naive Becky had any idea of what had really been going on with Gail, she would run off screaming. She had recently told Gail that she was jealous of her, and Gail had laughed so hard that she would have peed herself, had she been a human. Then she had gone through two boxes of tissues in her room that night. So, Becky wanted her life, did she? Well, she could have it. How wonderful it must be to just drift through life without a clue. Gail wouldn't mind trying that, sometime.

Gail had developed a bit of a hard edge to her since the car accident. Outwardly, she was the same Angel that everyone had grown to love, but she felt bitter and resentful inside at times. She didn't like herself that way, but there didn't seem to be anything she could do about it. The first meeting that Castiel had attended had been a prime example. She had come into the room and seen the floral centrepiece, wondering what it was doing there. Maybe Laurel had placed it there when she'd put the agendas by everyone's chairs, thinking that it would brighten their day. But then Gail had looked down at her spot and seen the roses, and her first thought was that his offering was apropos of their relationship lately. For every lovely, fragrant bloom, there were a number of thorns, just waiting to prick you and make you bleed if you should happen to pick them up the wrong way.

Still, Gail supposed he had done that to be nice, so as she put the flowers to one side and opened her agenda, she had made eye contact with Cas and nodded her head briefly.

Cas hadn't been expecting much, if anything, but he was disappointed that she hadn't smiled, at least. But he supposed that she had to appear businesslike here. The board was still mainly comprised of men, and Cas knew that Gail had the need to be taken seriously by them. He had been impressed with the way she ran the meeting, though. She was efficient and organized, and she also ran the show with a remarkable mix of gentle good humour and firmness. And she was fair. Everyone was entitled to have their say, even him. She exhibited no reaction when he spoke, but she did jot a few notes down, which had made him feel good.

After the meeting broke up, Cas lingered in the boardroom until everyone else was gone. He noticed with faint amusement that Bobby seemed to be rushing all the other board members out, and he tipped Cas a wink before he left.

Gail didn't see; she was making a show of gathering her papers together. She could see Cas, of course, and she supposed she'd better face him head on, since he obviously wasn't going to leave until they spoke. She could have just popped out of the room, but that would be the chicken's way out. Finally, she had run out of excuses. She looked up at him.

"Thank you for the flowers," Gail said to him. But she still didn't smile.

But Cas did. "I just wanted to tell you that you make an excellent Chairwoman. Or is it Chairperson? And much better-looking than the last one," he teased gently. But that might have been the wrong thing to say. Ignatius had given up his Grace so that Castiel could be cured, and he was now living life on Earth as a human.

Gail knew what Cas was thinking. Even though they were apart now, they still had the connection. "I wonder how he's doing," she said softly. "I hope he's happy."

"I could ask Bobby to find him," Cas offered. "We could go visit him, if you would like. We could just say that we're old friends of his. That would certainly be true, in my case."

Oh, God. He was charming her. Gail gathered up her notes and the flowers in her arms and held them in front of her, as if for protection. "I'm too busy now, Cas. You go, if you want," she said.

Cas nodded slowly. He had figured she would say that. He probably should go, but he didn't want to go without her. "No, you're right. What we're doing here should take priority," he said.

They stood there in silence for a moment. Cas wanted to keep talking to her, but he really didn't know what to say. She was being extremely cool to him, but that was to be expected. In her mind, this was the first actual conversation they'd had since she had moved into the bunker and he had gone to Vancouver.

"Was there anything else, Cas?" Gail asked him. "I need to get home and start working on the agenda for tomorrow's meeting."

"I'm going to the poker room this afternoon," he blurted out.

"Good luck," she said to him. Then she did give him a thin smile. "Not that you've ever needed it."

Oh, but he did need some good luck now. He needed lots of it. Castiel prayed to his Father. He prayed for the patience not to push her, and he also prayed for Gail to be happy, no matter what happened between them.

"I'll say hi to Barry for you, if you like," he said.

Gail's smile turned genuine then. "Please do." She wished she could go with Cas and see Barry, but she figured she'd better not. The more time she spent with Cas, the more dangerous it was for her. Not because he was cruel any more, but because he was the exact opposite. Even now, she just wanted to drop what she was holding and launch herself into his arms. She watched his mouth as he spoke. She could reach out and touch his face, and he would take her hand and kiss it. Then he would lean down and kiss her softly on the mouth and she would open her mouth, hoping his tongue would come looking for hers. And even if that was all they could do, she would gladly do that all day long.

She came very close, but common sense won out in the end. It was way too soon for her to even be thinking about anything like that. Maybe one day, but not now.

"I'll see you at the next meeting you can get to," Gail said casually. Then she winked herself back to the bunker, before she could change her mind.

Cas sighed. Well, at least they had been able to have a civil conversation together. She had even smiled. And she hadn't thrown his flowers in the garbage or in his face; she had taken them with her. So he needed to look on today as a success. Now it was time to go play poker, for charity.


	2. Personal Inventory

The months passed, and the end of the summer was rapidly approaching.

It was a good thing he had had the foresight to buy the air conditioner when he had, Cas thought with some amusement. This was the second summer he had been through now, and it had been a hot one both times. But because he had bought it as soon as he'd moved in here, he still had it. The reset had affected many other things, but some things had ended up working out the same.

Despite the coolness of the room, Cas felt sweaty when he came out of the shower. He dressed carefully and applied a bit of cologne when he was done.

Gail had invited him over to the bunker to go over the final draft she was going to hand out to the board tomorrow morning, and if everyone liked what they saw, Gail was going to give it to Bobby for his official seal.

Today was a huge deal for Cas, and he suspected that his sweaty feeling had way more to do with nerves than with the temperature. This would be the first time he'd been back to the bunker since he'd been cured, as far as Gail knew. He didn't know what he could expect. Who would be there? What would his reception be like?

But Gail had asked him to come, and he could hardly have refused. She treated him cordially and professionally these days, but that was all. Still, she had raised his self-esteem when she had complimented him on his acumen when it came to interpreting the laws. Cas had eased back into the routine he'd had before: meeting in the morning, poker room in the afternoon, studying the ancient language and the laws at night. As he had already done much of the work prior to the reset, Cas found it easier going this time, and he was able to pick up on some of the subtleties and nuances of the language he had missed before because of this fact. Gail had been suitably impressed, and she had then realized she had to put her personal feelings on the shelf and start working together with Castiel, if she wanted to have the best set of laws that they could write. So she had taken to calling him at night, while they were both studying the same clauses, to ask his opinion on certain issues. Cas loved talking to her, especially at night. He felt a lot less lonely when he sat at the table, poring over his notes, knowing that she might call at any minute. They never got together in person outside of Heaven's boardroom, but when she did call him, he would put her on speaker and pretend she was sitting at the table with him.

But now they were actually going to sit down together, face to face, and Cas was excited about that. He had been patient, and he had not pushed, and he had been working on himself by exhibiting the Virtues. He had done pretty much everything he had done before the reset, but with one very important addition, and he was hoping that they would have some time alone so that he could tell her about it. If she insisted on having the others present while he was there, he wouldn't argue; but because this was a personal matter, Cas wanted it kept between the two of them, if possible. When their business was concluded, Cas wanted to tell Gail about his visit to the womens' shelter.

Gail didn't know what to do with herself. She had arranged everything on the library table, then rearranged it, then moved it so that their chairs would be opposite each other, then moved everything again so they'd be sitting side by side.

Dean was smirking. She could act as cool and collected as she wanted, but he knew better. She was acting like a teenage girl preparing for her first date with her big crush, or at least, whatever the business equivalent was of that.

"I haven't seen you this excited about those mouldy old books since...well, ever," Dean teased her.

Gail looked up at him. She was so nervous she hadn't even realized he was standing there. "Well, it is the final draft, after all," she said to him.

"Oh, the final draft," he echoed, still smirking. "So that's why you keep rearranging the chairs. And didn't I see you wearing different clothes earlier?"

"Shut up, Dean," Gail replied automatically. But she was looking around the room, preoccupied. "Where are Sam and Frank?"

"They went out for a drive," Dean said casually. "Sammy wanted to celebrate finally getting rid of that cast on his leg."

Gail could understand that. "I have no idea how he was able to stand that for the past few months," she said to Dean. "I could never do that."

Dean's smile grew wider. She actually had done that very thing; she just didn't know it. She had refused to use crutches when she'd had her cast, claiming she lacked the upper body strength. So she had spent a lot of time hopping from place to place on one leg, prompting Dean to dub her "The Stork". And she had leaned on him a lot. Literally.

But she could lean on him any time she wanted to. Dean was so grateful to her for bringing Sammy back. And he was glad that Cas was coming over today. In Dean's opinion, it was about time. The poor guy had been an outcast all summer. But Dean had been calling Cas regularly, to make sure that he didn't feel too lonely and to keep him in the loop. Dean owed Cas for Sam's return, too. And Cas had really changed. He was still Cas, and he was still quirky, but he seemed more serene these days. He would tell Dean a few stories about things that had happened in the poker room, or about the sights he'd seen when he took his walks. Cas made Dean promise that the four of them would have a holiday in Vancouver and Dean had promised, shaking his head and rolling his eyes. He guessed that Angels were supposed to be optimists, but this was ridiculous. Nothing had changed between Cas and Gail; absolutely nothing. She was still here and Cas was still there, and Dean didn't see how that was ever going to change. And Dean very strongly suspected that Sam and Frank had not picked this morning to go out for their drive by mere coincidence. Still, he had to give Cas a lot of credit; he was still in there pitching.

"Why didn't you go with them?" Gail was asking now.

"Huh?" Dean said.

Gail sighed. "Why didn't you go with them on their drive?" she repeated.

"I wanted to see Cas," Dean told her. "It's been a long time, Gail."

"Yeah, I know," Gail said softly. Now she was preoccupied again. It HAD been a long time. She started to feel nervous again. It was a good thing that Dean was going to be here. If things got a little too awkward between her and Cas, Dean could act as a buffer, make a joke or something.

"But I'm not gonna stick around," Dean said. "No amount of coffee could keep me awake once you guys get going on those books."

"You're not going to stay?" Gail asked him, alarmed.

Dean started to grin again, but he knew that would probably make her mad, so he stopped. "Nope. Just gonna talk to Cas for a couple of minutes, and then take Baby for a drive. She hasn't been out for a long time. I think she's pissed off at me." He had been waiting for Sam to get his cast off so they could talk about getting back out on the road again. It had been way too long.

Gail's cell phone rang, and it was Cas. "Is it all right for me to come over now?" he asked her. He didn't feel like it would be right for him to just pop in now. He hadn't been there in so long, and it wouldn't be a good idea to take such liberties. Besides, it was nearly half an hour before the time they had arranged. Cas just hadn't been able to wait any longer. He felt like he was starting to sweat again.

Gail was a little surprised, but she shrugged. Might as well get an early start. "Sure, Cas, come on over." She hung up the phone and looked up expectantly.

There was a knock on the door up the stairs. Dean smirked again. Really? Gail's lips twitched, too. That was certainly new.

"Come in, Cas," they called out together.

Cas opened the door and started to walk down the stairs. If it had been anyone but him, the door wouldn't have opened due to the extra protections, but Bobby had made sure Cas could get in any time he wanted to now. Bobby and Dean trusted Cas implicitly again, and they were hoping that the others would come to feel the same way soon.

Gail watched him come down the stairs. He looked amazing, as always. And as he approached where she stood at the table, she noticed that he smelled nice, too. Lord give her strength. But they were here to talk business, nothing more. Now she regretted having arranged their chairs side by side. It was going to be hard to keep her mind on ancient Enochian when he was sitting next to her, looking like this and smelling like that. But she had invited him, after all.

"Hello, Dean," Castiel said. "Are you well?"

"Yeah, Cas, I'm well," Dean said, smiling.

Cas looked around, but he said nothing. Dean knew he was looking for the others. "Sam and Frank went out for a while," Dean volunteered.

Cas nodded. Truthfully, he wasn't really surprised. In a way, it was a shame, though. He had spent all night last night just working up the courage to face them.

"And I'm leaving now, too," Dean added.

Cas's heart leaped. He and Gail were going to be alone together? He started to smile. Thanks, Dean.

"How's your summer going?" Dean asked him. "You start shooting again in a week, don't you?"

"Yes," Cas answered him. "It'll be good to get back to work." And it would be, too. It was good to have a purpose. Thank God he had his poker-playing and this work on Heaven's laws to keep him busy.

But Gail was looking at them sharply. "How did you know he starts shooting in a week?" she asked Dean. Gail knew that, of course, since she and Cas spoke nearly every day now, but how would Dean know?

Crap. She was sharp. But then Dean shrugged. Cas was his friend. "We've talked from time to time," he told Gail.

"Oh. You've talked from time to time," Gail echoed sarcastically, imitating Dean. "Well, how come this is the first I'm hearing of it?"

Dean frowned. "Cas is an old friend. I didn't know everything had to be cleared through you, Your Highness," he said, matching her sarcasm.

Gail felt chastened. He was right. She didn't run everything. Why shouldn't Cas and Dean talk if they wanted to? She should be happy about that. It would be easier on everyone if they were all able to get along. Oh, who was she kidding? It would be easier on her.

"You're right, Dean. I'm sorry," she said.

Dean moved forward and put his hand out for Cas to shake. "It's good to see you, man," he said warmly. "And it's good to see you - " he had been about to say "together", but he amended it at the last minute to " - here."

Cas looked at Dean's hand. He wasn't going to get away with that. Cas pulled Dean in for a hug. Dean rolled his eyes, but he hugged Cas back for a moment, and he grinned.

Gail watched the two men curiously. It was half sweet and half suspicious to her. She'd known that Dean was not as condemning of Cas as Sam and Frank had been, but she was still a bit surprised to see the easy affection between them. Oh, well. She supposed it was none of her business, in a way.

"What do you say? Do you want to get started?" she said to Cas. She moved toward one of the chairs and he rushed to pull it out for her. That made Dean smile. Just like the old days. He used to give Cas a hard time about that, telling him that it was the twenty-first century now, and guys didn't do that anymore. But if Cas and Gail were somehow able to get back together, Dean vowed that he would never tease Cas about it again.

"See you later, bookworms," Dean said, and he left the library area, still smiling.

Once he had seated Gail, Cas drew up the chair beside her and sat down next to her.

"Bookworms?" Gail said, making a face. "That was lame, even for him." But she was smiling now, too. Dean. Boy, did she love him. Just the fact that he had made a point to be here with her when Cas came, while those other two cowards had bailed out, meant the world to her. She knew very well that Sam and Frank weren't out celebrating the removal of Sam's cast. If she could face Cas after everything that had happened, why couldn't they? She hadn't seen any of those guys sporting Cas's marks on their bodies.

"Now, where are we?" she mused aloud, flipping the pages of the ancient law book. Then she stopped and looked at Cas. He was sitting back in his chair, and he was smiling at her. "What?" she said.

"I'm so proud of you," he told her.

"What for?" she asked.

"Look at you," Cas said warmly. "You're about to change Heaven for good."

As the gravity of his statement hit her, she felt a little dazed. She sat back in her own chair, mirroring him. "Not me. Us," she amended. "We're going to change Heaven, and for the better."

"Thank you for letting me be a part of this," he said, leaning forward.

She shrugged. Bobby had been right; Castiel had every right to sit at that table. More right than her, actually. He had been bound by the ancient laws for untold centuries, and she was still a newcomer. She had been mad at the time, but Gail was now glad that Bobby had insisted on Cas's inclusion.

"You have every right to be a part of this," she told him softly. "Bobby was right, and I was wrong. And thank you for helping me as much as you have. We wouldn't be this close to finishing without you and your contributions."

And then, the miracle. She reached out and took his hand. As Cas's hand closed around hers, his face transformed. He brought her hand up to his mouth and kissed it gently, and he was beaming.

Why had she done that? Now all she could think about was kissing him. Gail gently disengaged her hand from his and turned back to the table, looking down at the ancient book. "We'd better get back to business," she said briskly.

"Can I talk to you first?" Cas asked her. She looked at him again, and now his expression was serious.

Gail sighed, and she closed the book. "Sure, Cas. What is it?"

"I want to tell you about my visit to the womens' shelter," he said.

Gail was startled. "Womens' shelter?"

"Yes," Cas confirmed. He started out by telling her about the envelope of money he had given to Richard. He had been putting his poker winnings into the envelope all summer, and when Cas had met with Richard yesterday to give it to him, the sum had been considerable. He had called Richard at the office, where the production staff was just getting set up in preparation for the new season. There had never been any fair, of course. Cas was at least glad that he hadn't had to go through that again. Some of it had been fun, but most of it had been harrowing. He supposed it would have been pointless for his Father to send him there again, when he would already know what was coming this time. Cas smiled inwardly, remembering that movie he had seen on TV once, where the man had to relive the same day, over and over again, until he had learned the lessons and become a better man. Well, Castiel had paid close attention, and all he had needed was the one lesson. He kind of regretted that he hadn't had the opportunity to win the stuffed moose and squirrel for Gail again, though. Now that he knew that the game was fixed, he might have been able to fill her room with stuffed animals if she wanted. But then, that would have been wrong, too. Cheating in any form was wrong. But he did have her photo back, and Cas still held out hope that one day, she would be there with him in his bedroom to look at it. He would take that trade all day long.

So Cas had taken the envelope stuffed full of money to Richard, and he had made his request to visit a womens' shelter as soon as possible.

Richard had looked in the envelope, then looked back at Cas, astonished. "There are thousands of dollars in here," he said.

Cas nodded. He knew there were, although he hadn't counted it.

"Why do you want to go to a shelter?" Richard asked him.

"Because I need to fully understand what it was like for Gail," Cas told him earnestly. "I need to know what it was like to walk in her shoes."

Richard regarded Cas for a moment. He was impressed. Most decent men could sympathize with those women, but Cas was going above and beyond; he wanted to empathize with them.

"It just so happens that I was headed there now," Richard told him. "You can come along, if you want. See where your money will be going. You can give the money to the woman who runs the place." He started to hand the envelope back to Cas, but Cas drew back, alarmed.

"No, Richard. I'm not going in there looking for praise," he said quietly. "You can give it to her, but please, don't say it's from me."

Richard shook his head slowly. What was with this guy? He was almost too good to be real. He worked hard, he never complained, and everyone on the set loved him. And now, this. If Cas had any bad points at all, Richard had yet to see them.

"OK, Cas," he said, pocketing the envelope. "Let's go."

So Cas was at the shelter, and Richard had given the Director the envelope. She thanked Richard profusely once she'd seen all the bills inside. Then Richard walked Cas around the facility. Many of the women greeted Richard by name, smiling at him and looking at Cas curiously. Richard came here a lot, and many of the longer-term residents knew him and his wife, and about their niece's story.

Richard had cautioned Cas on the drive over as to certain things that he might see, but Cas was still horrified. Many of the women had visible scars or bruises, and one even had a patch over one of her eyes. He didn't even want to think about what that was covering. Yet here they were, going on with life as best they could. Some of them were even smiling and laughing.

"Do you think one of these women might be willing to talk with me for a few minutes?" Cas asked Richard.

Richard thought for a moment. Ordinarily, he wouldn't have entertained such a request on a friend's first visit here. Especially a male friend. As a man, Cas symbolized everything these women were here to get away from. But he also wanted to help Cas. It seemed really important to him to understand how Gail felt about whatever she had been through with her abusive ex-boyfriend. Richard had only met Gail once, and very briefly, but Cas had talked about her to him and to others on the set, and Richard thought he had a fairly good mental picture of what Gail was like now. And he thought he had just the person in mind for Cas to talk to.

Valerie looked up from her book as Richard approached her, with another man standing just behind him. "Hey, Richard," she said. "What brings you here?"

Richard smiled at her. "Just checking in. I just gave Deborah a generous donation, from an anonymous donor. That should keep you ladies in comfort for a while. Maybe even buy you a few new books, for a change."

Valerie shrugged, closing the book. "I don't mind re-reading books, if they're good ones. And these are some of the best."

She stood, showing them the cover of the book. Cas's heart leapt. It was one of the books about the boy wizard that Gail loved so much! He wished that he had had the chance to continue with reading the series. He made a mental note to resume at the earliest opportunity.

"Who's your friend?" Valerie asked Richard, nodding at Cas.

Richard introduced them, then he took Valerie aside for a moment. He asked Valerie if she would be willing to sit down with Cas and tell him her story. She asked him why, and Richard told her about Gail.

Valerie was impressed. This guy must love Gail very much. Most of the guys Valerie had tried to talk to had winced when she was honest with them about what had happened to her, and then they had threatened to kick her husband's ass on her behalf. And while that was nice for what it was, they clearly didn't get it, so she had held some of the details back. So, Cas wanted to know what it was like, did he? Valerie wasn't sure he really did. But she would do it, for Richard.

She took Cas to one of the quiet rooms, and she closed the door behind them for privacy.

"You can leave it open, if you want," Cas told her.

Valerie smiled wryly. So, maybe he did sort of get it. But she wasn't afraid to be here alone in this room with him. After what she had been through at her own husband's hands, she wasn't afraid of much of anything anymore.

She gestured for Cas to sit on the small couch in the room, and then she sat down next to him. She wanted to demonstrate to him that she wasn't afraid of him, or of any man. And she didn't mind him being in her personal space, because this conversation was about to get very personal.

Without preliminary, Valerie lifted her top just enough to show Cas her stomach. There was an ugly, jagged scar there.

"That was for being late to put the supper on the table one night," she told him.

Cas stared at her stomach, horrified. "What did he do?" he asked her in a hushed tone.

"He took the knife to me," Valerie said casually. The memory still hurt, but she had told her story so many times in group that it no longer made her cry. Well, not usually, anyway. "That was his weapon of choice. It was quiet, and it was personal. And much more subtle than just beating the crap out of me would have been."

Cas's eyes were wide. This sounded all too familiar. Had Richard picked this woman on purpose? But Richard didn't know what Cas had done. His Father would though, wouldn't He?

Valerie put her top back down. "I have others, but I'm not going to show them to you," she told him. "Many of them are in private areas, anyway. But I think you get the point."

"And this man told you that he loved you?" he asked her, astounded.

"Of course he did," she said, almost cheerfully. "And I loved him, too." She already knew what Cas was going to say next; she'd heard it many times before. "And I know what you're going to say now: How could he love me, and yet do those things to me? Well, he did love me. It was himself that he hated, and he just took that out on me because he was too much of a coward to get help for the way he felt about himself."

Cas felt like he was going to pass out. That was him, exactly as she'd said. With only a couple of sentences, she had just nailed Cas to the wall. That was exactly what he had done to Gail, and exactly why he had done it. The disease may have fueled him, but it was time he stopped using that as an excuse and took full responsibility for his actions. No wonder God had required him to work on himself so much.

"No one heals themselves by wounding another," Cas said quietly. Now he really, truly got it. He thought he had gotten it before, but he had been wrong.

"Precisely," Valerie said with grim satisfaction. "Too bad he never realized that."

Now Cas did ask her the obvious question, the one that everyone asked: "Why did you stay with him?"

She sighed. "Because I loved him. Because he loved me. Because I hoped things would get better." She stared Cas in the eyes. "Because I thought so little of myself that I thought I didn't deserve any better."

Cas was shocked. Was that what Gail had really felt like? That she hadn't deserved any better from him? How could she even think such a thing?

"Yeah, I know. Crazy, right?" Valerie smiled bitterly. "He hated himself, and I suffered from low self-esteem. Our wedding gifts should have been coupons for therapy sessions."

Cas was stunned. He had no idea what to say. But he was working on himself now, and Gail was working on herself, also. If they came to love themselves, would it then be possible for them to love each other?

"If you don't mind me asking, what finally made you leave?" Cas asked Valerie.

She shrugged. "It was a lot of things, and it was nothing. I wish I could say I had an 'a-ha moment', but I didn't. I just woke up one day and packed a bag while he was at work." Valerie sighed. "We lived apart for a while, and then he tried to get me back. He said he was seeing a psychiatrist. But I never got to find out if that was true. His brother found him in the basement of our house. He'd hung himself."

Cas stared at her. He couldn't help it. It was unbelievable. How horrible. How sad. And how familiar. Rope, blade; what was the difference?

"He left me a note, but I told his brother to burn it," Valerie added. "I just...didn't want to know." Now she did begin to cry. She didn't know what hurt more, the fact that he had killed himself before she'd gotten the chance to find out if he was really getting better, or the fact that she still loved him, even now. How pathetic was that? Valerie obviously had a lot more work to do on herself. That's what she was really doing here today. She was no longer a resident; she'd just been passing time until the group session convened. She never missed group, if she could help it. Hearing the other womens' stories made her feel less alone, less weird. She told Cas this now, through her tears.

Cas wanted to comfort her, but he couldn't bring himself to do it. He was her husband personified, and she was Gail. So, that was how Gail felt. Yet she faced Cas every day at the meetings, and she picked up the phone to call him to talk about the laws at night. He had never respected Gail's courage more. He realized he had never really respected her at all.

He waved his hand, and he was holding a bouquet of flowers. He handed them to Valerie, hoping she would appreciate the only gesture he felt he could give her. It was the only thing he could think of to do for her, and for all of the women that she represented. Well, that, and to continue to play poker, as often as possible.

Valerie was startled. Where had he gotten the flowers from? Her eyes had been so blurred with tears that she hadn't seen him conjure them. But she smiled through her tears. Thank God he hadn't tried to touch her, or to comfort her. Most men tried that, and she still recoiled. It was going to take quite a while before she would be able to accept that from a man, if ever.

"Thanks," she said, clutching the flowers to herself with one hand and wiping her eyes with the other. Then she looked at him sharply. "Why are you here, really?"

Now she really did remind him of Gail. "Because I needed to understand," Cas said somberly. "Because my wife was you, and I was your husband." He owed her the truth as repayment for her courage in being so honest with him.

"Wow," Valerie said, stunned. "Wow. Richard definitely didn't mention that, did he?"

"That's because Richard doesn't know," Cas told her. "No one here in Vancouver does. They all think it was an abusive ex-boyfriend. But it was me." Now he was crying. "I'm everything you just said. No wonder she wants nothing to do with me. But I have been working on myself, and so has she."

"Do you love her?" Valerie asked him quietly.

"With all my heart," Cas answered.

"And how do you feel about yourself now?" she said.

Cas laughed shortly, wiping his tears away with the back of his hand. "Not so good, at the moment," he said. Then he looked her in the eye. "But it's getting better. And Gail is doing great. She's got a new job, and she's getting stronger and more confident every day."

Valerie smiled. Cas and his wife sounded like they just might make it. As sad as he'd been a moment ago, his face positively glowed when he talked about her. "Thanks for the donation," Valerie said slyly.

Cas was startled, and then he smiled, too. She was like Gail, all right. He thanked his Father silently for the lesson. It had been very instructive.

"Thank you for meeting with me," Cas said. He rose from the couch and walked over to the door, opening it. Then he looked back at Valerie.

"I'll stay here for a minute," Valerie told him. She wanted to sit and smell her flowers, maybe cry for a couple more minutes. Or maybe not. She'd done enough crying over her husband.

Cas nodded, and he left the room. Then he had sought out Richard to thank him, too.

Cas was done telling his story to Gail, and he had left nothing out. She was both amazed and appalled. Poor Valerie. Gail saw some parallels, but she felt extremely lucky, compared to Valerie.

"That poor woman," she said quietly. "I hope she'll be all right."

Cas looked at her warmly. That was one of the many reasons he loved her so much. He had seen Gail's face darken as he'd been relating Valerie's story to her, and Cas knew that Gail was thinking about what he had done to her. How could she not? But the first thing out of her mouth once he'd finished his tale was compassion and concern for another.

"I hope so, too," Cas replied. "But I think she will be. She seemed like a very strong woman." He gave her a thin smile. "Just like you."

Gail looked at him sharply. "Me? Are you nuts? I'm not strong at all!" Now she felt agitated. "If you only knew."

Cas was shaking his head. He didn't want to argue with her, but he had to show her that he got it, now. "But I do know," he told her. "I know that you're afraid. You're afraid I'll hurt you again. You're afraid because you think you're not strong enough. You love me, but you hate me a little bit, as well. And you're afraid that if you do decide to come back to me, people will think less of you, and you'll think less of yourself, too."

Gail looked at him. Wow. He really did get it. "Well, look who's psychic all of a sudden," she said with a touch of bitterness.

Cas said nothing. He knew she wasn't finished speaking, and he needed to listen very carefully to what she had to say next.

"I don't know what to do with all of my feelings, Cas," she told him, sighing. "You're right. You were right about all of it. How can you say I'm strong? I'm scared of everything!"

"Yet you're sitting here with me right now, doing something that will change history in Heaven, and help Angels for generations to come," Cas pointed out to her.

"Yeah, well..." Gail didn't know what to say to that.

"I could say I'm never going to hurt you again, but you don't want to hear that from me right now," Cas continued. "I've said that before."

She nodded. He was right about that, too. "OK, Cas, I get that you get it," Gail told him. "But you're wrong about one thing. I don't hate you."

"No, but you've been hating yourself for not hating me, haven't you?" he said quickly.

Despite herself, Gail smiled. "Get out of my head," she said.

"But we have to let the old thinking go, now," Cas said earnestly. "Among the many lessons I've learned this summer, that one is perhaps the most important. We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them."

Gail looked at him, impressed by his thought process. "When did you get to be so smart, anyway?" she teased him.

"I've always been smart," he said, smiling. "Even when I was being incredibly stupid."

They smiled at each other. He really has changed, Gail thought. She could see it, now that they'd had the chance to talk alone together like this. But there was something else that she had to tell him now, and he wasn't going to like it.

"Sam kissed me," she blurted out.

Cas had picked up a pencil, needing something to do with his hands. The urge to reach out and touch her had become overwhelming, and he didn't want to be forward like that, especially not after what they'd been talking about. The pencil snapped in two when she said that, but then he dropped it abruptly. No. That wasn't who he was any more.

Cas turned his face to her slowly. "He did?" he said, trying to keep his voice steady.

"Yeah." She sighed. "He's been acting a little weird, Cas. I mean, we all know how he - how he feels," she said uncomfortably, "but that's been something we've all just king of decided to ignore."

"Elephant," Cas said.

Gail nodded. "Yeah. Elephant. Big, fat pachyderm." She sighed again and told Cas the story.

About a week prior to this meeting with Cas, Gail and Sam had been sitting at this table going over some translations, as usual. Dean and Frank had given in to Becky and Kevin's pleadings, and had taken them for a drive. The young Angels had wanted to get outside for a bit and enjoy the nice summer weather while it lasted. There was no weather in Heaven, either good or bad, and they had wanted to experience some, before they had to go back. And they had both missed Earth, and humans in general. When the new laws were firmly in place, Kevin planned to ask Bobby if it would be possible for him and Becky to receive a few more assignments here on Earth. Now that Cas was away somewhere, for whatever reason, and Gail was up in Heaven more often than not, Bobby might need more Angels to take their place.

"Want some more coffee?" Gail asked Sam.

He smiled at her. "Sure." She had been so sweet to him since their accident. Dean always made him crutch over there and get his own. But if she was good enough to offer, why should Sam go through all that effort? It would only be a few more days, and then the cast would come off. He might as well take advantage while he could.

And there was something else he had been meaning to take advantage of, too. This was the first time he and Gail had been alone together since the night of the accident. It seemed like there was always someone around these days. So when she came around the table to get his coffee cup, he pulled her down onto his lap. "I'm done waiting, Gail," he said, and he kissed her. His arms went around her, and she was so surprised that her mouth opened. Sam misinterpreted that, and his tongue was in her mouth before she could object, and his hands began to creep under her top.

Gail struggled out of his grip, and she climbed out of his lap, moving away so that he couldn't grab her again. "Sam! What the hell?" she said angrily.

"Life is short, Gail," he replied. "Our accident taught me that. You know how I feel about you."

"Yeah, but..." Gail sighed. She didn't want to hurt his feelings, but she needed to be honest with him. "You can't just go grabbing me like that, Sam. You know I don't like it."

"You mean you don't like it coming from me," he said pointedly. "Well, maybe I'm done being passive. Seems to me you liked it when Cas was aggressive."

She was angry now. "You want to be very careful when you talk about that, Sam. You know that's a touchy subject for me. Please don't ever do that again." She turned to walk down the corridor, then she spun around. "And you can get your own damn coffee." Then she stalked down the hall and entered her room, slamming the door behind her.

Gail paced the floor when she got there. What had that been all about? That wasn't like Sam at all. It wasn't so much that he had kissed her; it was the way that he had done it. If he had tried to kiss her without grabbing her, she could have gently rebuffed him. But he had made her mad, and she hadn't appreciated his comment about Cas.

But this was stupid. She was doing that passive-aggressive thing again, the thing she always did when she didn't want to face a problem head-on. So Gail came back out of her room and walked back out to the library area.

"We should talk about this, Sam," she said quietly. "I don't want to hurt you, and I don't want to fight. And you know I love you too, and I think the world of you. But I can't go there with you, Sam. I just can't."

"It's Cas, isn't it?" Sam asked bitterly.

Gail nodded. "Yeah, Sam. And you're making me feel like I should apologize to you, but I'm not going to. I never led you on, Sam. Never."

Sam frowned. "I know, Gail. I'm being an ass."

"Can I get that on tape, please?" Gail teased him. "I've been struggling with what to get Dean for Christmas."

Sam smiled slowly. She needed to stop being so cute. But she was who she was, and Sam was who he was, and she didn't want Sam, she still wanted Cas. That pissed Sam off, but he guessed he had no choice but to suck it up. She never had led him on, it was true; Sam had just assumed that she would gravitate towards him, the longer she was apart from Cas.

"I'm sorry, Gail," Sam said. "I'll never do that again, I promise."

"OK, Sam," she said, sitting back down beside him. "Now what do you say we get back to this riveting material?"

Sam lifted his mug. "Ummm...coffee?"

Gail looked at him, then shook her head and they exchanged a smile. She rolled her eyes, getting up from her chair. She grabbed his mug and kissed him on the forehead. "I would make Dean get his own, just so you know," she quipped.

Then she walked to the coffeemaker, and he stared after her. Damn, he thought. Just...damn. Sam no longer hated Cas after all this time, but he was still pissed at him. He had no idea how lucky he was.

But Cas really did know how lucky he was. As he had done with Gail a few minutes ago, she had told him the full story, not holding anything back. His jaw had clenched when she had told him how Sam had kissed her, but Cas said nothing. He listened patiently as Gail told him the rest of the story, and when she was finished, he let out the breath he'd been holding.

Gail watched him carefully, and Cas knew that she was looking for jealousy and anger. But although he wasn't exactly crazy about what she had been telling him, the new and improved Cas needed to see the glass as more than half full here. Without expressly stating so, Gail was trying to tell Cas that she still loved him, and she could never be with Sam due to that fact. And she had communicated that to Sam in no uncertain terms, and he had apparently accepted it.

Cas smiled. "Thank you for telling me that," he said. And that was all that he said.

Gail was looking at him. "That's it?" she said, surprised.

"Yes, that's it," he replied.

"You really have changed," she said softly.

"I have," he confirmed. "And, so have you. And I know we've both changed for the better."

She smiled and nodded. They continued to look at each other for a moment, and then Gail couldn't stand it anymore. "Could you do me a favour, Cas?" she asked him.

"Sure. Anything," he replied.

"Could you kiss me right now, before I explode?" she quipped.

They stood up together, and he took both of her hands in his. "Are you sure you want me to?" he asked her.

Gail smiled. He had asked her if she was sure when they had been in Las Vegas, and even though this was a much tamer activity that she was proposing now, she thought that it was sweet of him to ask. She nodded. "Yeah," she said softly.

He let go of her hands and put his arms around her waist, and then he leaned down and kissed her on the lips. Even though it was a chaste Angel kiss, she thought that might be the sexiest kiss they had ever shared so far in their relationship. Part of her wanted more, but she kept her senses for the time being. "Thank you," Gail said, giving him a little smile.

Cas rolled his eyes, but in a comical way. "No, no, thank YOU," he replied.

Gail laughed, and it did his heart good to see that. When was the last time he had made her laugh, instead of making her cry? It had been so long, he didn't remember. Much too long.

"OK, enough of this fooling around," she said, stepping away from him. "We've got to get this done now." She plunked down in her chair and reopened the book.

Cas sat down and grabbed a pen. "Where were we, Madame Chairwoman?" he said.

They were nearly finished when their human friends were sitting down to eat. After stretching Baby out for a bit on the highway, Dean had called Sam's cell phone, and they arranged to meet at the diner.

"So, did he show up?" Sam asked Dean, as his brother slid into the booth.

Dean rolled his eyes. "Of course he did. She asked him to come, didn't she?" But he was smiling when he said it.

Frank frowned. "And you left her there alone with him?"

Dean looked at Frank coolly. He liked Gail's brother a lot, but Frank was gonna have to let go of that now. Dean thought that Sammy might be coming around a bit as far as Cas was concerned, but Frank was apparently even more stubborn than his sister was about some things. Of course, he didn't have the history that Dean and Sam had with Cas. Well, Frank did have a history with Cas; it just wasn't a very good one.

"He's an Angel again, Frank. He's been an Angel for months now," Dean said to Gail's brother.

"So what?" Frank retorted. "Are we just supposed to forget about everything he did?"

"Not forget, necessarily," Dean shot back. "But forgive, maybe."

"Why should I forgive him?" Frank said angrily.

"Because Gail has," Sam said suddenly. "Right, Dean?"

Dean looked at his broher. "Well, she didn't come right out and say that, at least, not while I was there. But I think she's getting close. Bobby's already forgiven him, and so have I. Maybe it's time you two did the same."

Sam and Frank looked at him, then at each other, and then back at Dean. He sighed and waited for them to start yelling at him.

"You know what? I think I can do that," Sam said, surprising his brother.

"Well, I can't," Frank said bluntly.

"I'm sorry to hear that, Frank," Dean said casually, picking up a menu. "But maybe you want to reconsider your position. Otherwise, the odd man out might be you soon, not Cas." Dean studied the menu.

Frank thought about that. Could he bring himself to forgive Cas? Did he have a choice? Hell yeah, he had a choice. Life was full of choices. He stood up from the table, throwing a couple of dollars down for his coffee. "I'll see you guys later," he said, and then he walked out of the diner.


	3. Reconstruction

Cas had also bought a nice suit with his poker winnings this week, and he dressed in it the next day. He'd taken his time showering and shaving, and now he was knotting his tie, using the mirror over the bureau to make sure it was straight. Then he folded the pocket handkerchief and put it in his breast pocket.

He stepped back and surveyed himself in the mirror. He hadn't worn a suit in a long time, not since his and Gail's first date in Las Vegas. He thought he looked pretty good, actually. He hoped that wasn't Vanity, he thought with amusement.

Castiel was very excited. Today was the big day. Gail was going to go over the final draft of the new laws with the entire board, point by point, and if everyone liked what they saw, she was going to pass it to Bobby to put God's seal on it, making it official.

Bobby had talked to Cas earlier on Angel Radio, to confirm his attendance. As if Cas would miss it.

"I shoulda just kept the old one and swapped it out," Bobby said grumpily. "No one would have known the difference."

Cas smiled. He knew how much Bobby hated "bureaucratic b.s.", as he called it, and this was the second go-round, after all. They had been on the verge of this very same meeting when Cas had had to send Sam and Gail back in time, to save Sam's life. The reset had negated all the work that they had already done on the document, and they'd had to start all over again.

But in the end, it had been well worth it, in Cas's opinion. He hadn't felt like that at the time, though. The reset had served to erase all of the progress that Cas and Gail had made on their road to reconciliation. The only good part had been having Sam back with them. But now Cas was actually glad that they'd had a do-over. It had given them both more time to work on themselves as individuals, and as a result, they were both in a much better place now, in his opinion.

His cell phone rang, just as he'd been slipping it into his pocket.

"Cas?" It was Gail.

"Yes?" He smiled into the phone.

"I wonder if you can come up here and help me with something now, before the meeting starts. I'm in the boardroom," she said.

"Of course. Be there in a second," he said.

She was standing at her spot, looking down at the roses he had placed there earlier this morning. He hadn't given her flowers since the morning of his first meeting, when she had accepted them, but only half-heartedly. He would happily have given her flowers every day, but Cas had sensed that would be pushy, so he had refrained. But today was a very special occasion.

Gail looked up, smiling, ready to thank him for the flowers. Then her eyes widened. She pursed her lips, trying to whistle. But she was unable to do it, so she murmured, "Every girl is crazy 'bout a sharp-dressed man."

Cas's forehead wrinkled. "Pardon?" he said.

Gail's smile widened. "Sorry. I'm a sucker for 80's music, if you recall. I'll have to play that one for you sometime."

He looked at her, and now he was smiling. She always did like her music. "You look beautiful," Cas told her.

"What, this old thing?" Gail quipped. She had also prepared for the occasion. She was wearing a bright blue dress. "You like?" she asked him.

Cas nodded. She had always favoured jeans, but he thought she looked very pretty in a dress. Now he was doubly reminded of their first date; she'd been wearing one then, too.

"Thanks," she said. "And thank you for my flowers. They smell wonderful." She walked up to him and leaned in close. "And, so do you. Better than the flowers," she said impishly.

"What was the favour?" Cas asked her, smiling.

"Can you come to Bobby's office with me for a second?" she asked in return.

Castiel trailed behind her as she led the way to Bobby's office. Gail tapped lightly on Bobby's door.

"Come in," Bobby said.

Gail opened the door, and she and Cas walked in. Bobby did a double-take when he saw them. "Well, now I just feel under-dressed," he quipped.

Cas and Gail laughed. "What's the matter? Are your white robes at the cleaners'?" Cas said, and Gail laughed again. What a happy day this was for her. She had already laughed more this morning than she had in the past few months.

Bobby's beard twitched. "You two are looking entirely too happy," he told them. "Are you sure you haven't been dipping into our surprise a little early?"

"We haven't even got it on ice yet," Gail said to him. "That's what Cas is here to help me with."

"OK," Bobby said. "You two go down to the bunker, and I'll fill the buckets here."

Now Cas was really puzzled, but he went with the flow as Gail took his hand and winked them both to the bunker.

Sam and Dean were in the kitchen eating breakfast when Cas and Gail walked in. She was glad to see Sam there. She had told the brothers and Frank last night that she would be bringing Cas here this morning, so that his appearance wouldn't be a surprise. Frank's jaw had clenched, but he had said nothing. Gail was concerned about her brother. He had come back very late last night. and he had seemed angry. But even though she'd tried to draw him out, Frank wouldn't talk to her. She had told him that she was going to bring Cas to the bunker in the morning to help her with something before the board meeting, and then Frank had stalked off to bed without saying a word to her.

Gail looked around the kitchen how. "Where's Frank?" she asked Sam and Dean.

"I don't know," Dean replied. "He was already gone when I woke up. Hey, Cas."

Cas smiled. "Hello, Dean." Then he looked at Sam. "How are you, Sam? Are you happy to have gotten the cast off your leg?"

Sam regarded Cas over his coffee cup. "Yeah, Cas. It feels good to have that weight off me."

Cas continued to look at Sam, and Sam gave him a small nod. They weren't just talking about the cast any more. "I'm glad, Sam," Cas said quietly. "I feel the same way."

Gail was glad to see the two of them talking like that, but she was thinking about Frank now. He was dealing with his own feelings about Cas by not dealing with them. They obviously must share the same DNA, she thought wryly. But she could have told Frank that was not the way to go about things, if only he was speaking to her at the moment. She'd been doing it Frank's way for months, until she'd finally come to the realization that it was best to just face these kinds of things head-on. She sighed. Oh, well. You couldn't have everything, all at once.

She touched Cas's arm. "See that box sitting beside the fridge? I wonder if you can bring it up to the boardroom for me. It's too heavy for me to carry."

"Sure," Cas said. He moved towards the spot she had indicated, and as Cas passed by Sam's chair, Sam caught him by the arm.

Cas looked down at Sam. "Yes, Sam?" he said calmly.

"I just wanted to say...good luck," Sam said to him.

Cas was touched. Sam was wishing them well in their efforts to enact the new laws. But then Sam looked at Gail, and Cas realized that wasn't what Sam had been talking about at all. And that made Cas even happier.

"Thank you, Sam," Cas said, smiling gently. He put his hand on Sam's shoulder for a moment, then walked over to the fridge, picking up the box.

"This IS heavy," he said to Gail. "What's in it?"

"You'll find out," she said mysteriously. "See you later, guys." She waved to the brothers, smiling warmly at Sam. Gail had noted and appreciated his gesture towards Cas.

They winked out of the bunker, as Dean raised his mug in salute to his younger brother.

Bobby had the buckets of ice loaded on the cart when they returned. Gail looked at them.

"We still have to review the document," Gail said to Bobby. "Aren't you being a bit premature?"

Bobby looked at her, amused. "I'm God, Gail. The ice won't melt until I want it to."

Oh. She hadn't thought about that. She guessed it was like Cas's never-emptying liquor bottles, or something. And how long did she have to be an Angel before she started thinking like one, anyway?

"Uhh...this box is getting a little heavy," Cas said.

Bobby's beard twitched. "Set it on my desk, then."

Cas did, and Bobby waved his hand over the box, opening it. Then he reached in and grabbed two of the bottles of champagne, inspecting the labels. "I hope this is a good year," he mused.

"Hey, bubbles are bubbles," Gail said. "If you wanted quality stuff, you shouldn't have let me get it. I don't know the difference, so I just got the cheapest stuff they had. Maybe you'll actually come in on budget this year," she quipped.

Cas was clued in now. "Champagne," he said, bemused.

"I know, it's a little unconventional. Maybe a lot unconventional," Gail admitted. "But that's kind of the point of this whole thing, isn't it? I just thought it would be symbolic."

Castiel smiled. He supposed she was right. He pictured the former board members' faces, watching himself and Bobby popping open bottles of champagne in Heaven's boardroom, and Gail proposing the first toast. The thought amused him, but it also made him feel sad. If those men had been willing to open their minds, the ancient laws could have been revised years and years ago, as they should have been. And now Lanister, Alexander and Xavier were in Hell, courtesy of Castiel and his blade. Cas regretted what he had done, and the way he had done it. But there was nothing he could do about it now. What was done was done. At least Daniel and Gregory were still in Heaven, and they were serving Bobby well. He wondered what they thought about what the new board was about to accomplish. And then he thought about Ignatius. Once the new laws had been passed, Castiel was going to broach that subject to Gail again. He thought she might now be ready to go with him to visit Ignatius on Earth and thank him for his great sacrifice on their behalf. Maybe they could take a copy of the revised rule book, just to show him. Something told Cas that the human Ignatius might actually approve.

Bobby's beard was twitching again as he looked at Gail. She was taking the bottles out of the box now and putting them in the buckets of ice. "Do you want me to make them self-refilling?" he asked her.

Gail stopped what she was doing and considered that for a moment. Then she shook her head. "No, better not. The last thing we need is a bunch of drunk Angels running around after you enact the law allowing them to express physical affection with each other," she quipped.

Bobby and Cas laughed. The Angels wouldn't get drunk, of course; Gail had only been joking about that. But both men knew that there would be more than a few of them who were looking forward to the removal of the old law which had restricted them in that regard. And three of them stood right here in this room.

Gail passed the finalized document to Bobby. The meeting had gone well. She had gone over the new laws with everyone point by point, and the board members had unanimously given the document their approval.

Bobby was looking at it now. He was extremely proud of the job they had done. The highlight of the document for him was the revision of the suicide clause. The ancient laws had stated unequivocally that anyone who committed suicide would be immediately cast down to Hell, regardless of the circumstances. But Bobby had always thought that was wrong. Sometimes, there were extenuating circumstances. He had once contemplated it himself when he'd reached a particularly low point in his life as a human. And look at sweet little Becky. It had turned out that the rest of the board members had felt the same way as Bobby, and they had all debated their way to a clause that everybody could live with. From now on, any human who committed suicide would be brought before a panel of Angels before their fate was decided. The panel would assess each human on a case by case basis, taking into consideration the type of person the human had been in life, and the reason for their suicide. Bobby planned to ask at least one of these very same board members to be on the panel, once they got to that point. Maybe a Prophet would come in handy, he thought, looking at Chuck and Kevin. They were both fair and open-minded.

Bobby's beard twitched as he scanned the clause on Angels' rights to express their affection for each other openly. That one had gone over big with the board, too. Bobby didn't expect Heaven to turn into a free-for-all, and he wouldn't allow it to get that far anyway, but he didn't really see anything wrong with it. He had always felt that what two consenting adults did in private was their own business, regardless of age or sexual preference. The laws may have been ancient, but Bobby wasn't.

"I think we're good, Gail," Bobby said to her after reviewing the document. He turned to look at the board members. "You can all be very proud of yourselves for what you've done here. Now I think we can really call this place Heaven." He picked up God's seal and put it on the front page of the document, pressing down. A white glow emanated from the seal-maker, and then the gold seal appeared, embossing itself on the page.

Gail began to clap, and then the rest of the board members joined her. Chuck smiled at Kevin and Ethan, and he clapped Cas on the shoulder. Patricia was smiling at Bobby.

Then Gail's and Cas's eyes met, and she gave him a slight nod. They both rose from their chairs. "We'll be right back," Gail told the board members. "We've got a bit of a surprise for all of you."

They went to Bobby's office and asked Laurel to unlock the door. "Is it a go?" Laurel asked them with an anticipatory smile.

"It's a go, Laurel," Castiel said happily.

She smiled at them. "Congratulations," she said. "I know how hard you've all been working, and I'd like to be the first to thank you, on behalf of all of us."

Cas and Gail smiled at her, and then at each other. They entered Bobby's office and Cas pushed the cart loaded with the champagne buckets out the door.

"Why don't you come into the boardroom and celebrate with us?" Gail said to Laurel. "You're one of the unsung heroes of this whole thing. If I'd had to spend as much time at the photocopier as you did, I think I would have died of boredom by now."

Laurel considered for a moment. "All right, I think I will," she said. "As long as Bobby is OK with it, I think I will, for a minute."

"He's gonna have to be OK with it," Gail said, as Laurel relocked Bobby's door. "If he isn't, I'll start circulating a petition to get a union in here."

Laurel looked at her, puzzled. Union? What was that?

Gail shrugged. Once again, she realized that you couldn't win them all. "Come on," she said to Laurel and Cas.

The women held the boardroom doors open as Cas wheeled the cart in. He stopped it right beside Bobby's chair.

Some of the Angels looked at the champagne bottles warily, but Chuck grinned widely. "Your idea?" he said to Gail.

She smiled and nodded. "Guilty," she admitted.

Chuck laughed. "Hey, Cas, throw one of those over here," he called out.

Cas looked at him. "Come on, Cas, live a little," Chuck urged him. "Don't worry; I may throw like a girl, but I don't catch like one."

"Hey!" Gail said, but she was still smiling. "I'm not above having Cas aim the cork at your head."

Cas grinned and tossed one of the bottles to Chuck, who was surprised, but he caught it neatly. Then Cas handed Bobby a bottle, and then he took one for himself.

Bobby tried to hand the bottle to Gail, but she shook her head. "Nooo," she said to him. "I've always been afraid of those things. All joking aside, do me a favour and aim them towards the ceiling. I can probably fix a few divots in the ceiling, but I don't want to have to replace a board member. Even you, Chuck," she joked, and they all laughed, including Chuck. What an inspired choice she had been for Chairperson, Chuck thought. Cas had once mentioned that maybe Chuck himself should head the new board, but Chuck was glad it had been Gail instead. And he was happy to see her and Cas so free and easy with each other now. Things had been so bad there for a while. Chuck had tried to talk to her many times over the last few months, but she had always sidestepped his questions when it came to the subject of Cas. But Chuck felt that it was only a matter of time now. He had had visions of them dressed up much as they were now, dancing together at some kind of a party. On the other hand, he had also seen them at a funeral, and Gail had dropped Cas's hand and walked away from him in that vision. So, who really knew?

But this was a very happy moment, and Chuck was going to make the most of it. So, as the men popped the champagne corks, Chuck shook his bottle and sprayed Kevin and Ethan with the champagne, just as he'd seen ballplayers do in the locker room after they'd won the big championship.

Gail shook her head, laughing. Chuck. He was one of a kind. "Hey, don't waste that," she called to him. "That stuff cost me nearly two dollars a bottle."

Ethan laughed. "Nothing but the best, huh, Gail?"

"You know it," she agreed, grinning.

Bobby had conjured up champagne glasses, and he and Cas began pouring. "Here, let me," Gail said. She walked over and started grabbing the filled glasses. She walked around the table and handed a glass to each board member, hugging each of them and thanking them for all of their hard work.

Then, once everyone had a glass in hand, Gail returned to her spot, accepting a glass from Cas on her way back. "A toast," she said, raising her glass to everyone. "To all of you. You can all be very proud of yourselves. Here's to the new, improved Heaven." She raised her glass and had a sip, and they all followed suit.

Different Angels reacted in different ways. Bobby's nose wrinkled. He'd never really liked champagne; give him a beer or a bourbon anytime. But he'd wanted to participate in the ritual. He lifted his glass to Laurel then, thanking her for all of her hard work. He didn't mind that she was here at all; he'd actually thought it was damn considerate of Cas and Gail to have brought her.

Cas and Ethan sipped at theirs with no visible reaction. Cas was used to having the occasional drink on Earth now, and Ethan had been a human so recently that it didn't really faze him. But Patricia made a face. She was a long-serving Angel, and if she had ever drunk alcohol when she'd been alive, she had forgotten what it tasted like. Ugh. She didn't really care for it. But she had wanted to participate in the ritual, as well.

Kevin was grinning. He'd been killed at such a young age that he'd never had a chance to taste his first legal sip of alcohol. The bubbles tickled his nose and the taste was strong, but he kind of liked it. He took several sips. It was a good thing that his mother wasn't here, though. She would probably have jerked the glass right out of his hand.

"You're all free to go, if you want," Bobby told them. "Or stay here and talk, if you prefer. But you've all got the rest of the day off." He put his glass down on the table. "Just don't get too hung over. Tomorrow's a work day," he quipped.

Some of the Angels looked at each other, puzzled by his comment, but Chuck smiled at Bobby. That had been pretty good.

But no one seemed to want to leave. They had all bonded over this table in the last few months, and although they were a diverse group, they all started to mill around, talking with each other. Some had put their champagne glasses down on the table, but others had not, and those Angels were standing around holding their glasses and taking the occasional sip from them, as though they were at a cocktail party. Gail was amused. Maybe she should have whipped up some finger foods, too.

Castiel was glad they had all stayed. There was something he wanted to say. He drained his glass of champagne and poured another, screwing up the courage to speak. He knew the champagne made no difference, but it was of psychological comfort, anyway. He walked over to stand beside Gail at the end of the table.

"There's something I'd like to say," Cas said quietly. But the noise level in the room had increased, and he wasn't heard. Gail reached down and rapped her gavel on the table, and the chatter ceased immediately. It was a Pavlovian response. Gail had seldom used the gavel in their meetings, feeling it to be a bit too pretentious and overbearing, but on the rare occasions she had, they knew that she meant business.

Cas looked at her gratefully, and then he cleared his throat. "I'd like to say something," Castiel said to his fellow Angels. "I'm sure you all noticed that I was gone for a while, and I know you have wondered why." He looked at Chuck, Kevin, and Ethan. All except for you three, he thought. He had the feeling that Chuck might have confided in his two closest Angel friends, though exactly what he might have said, Cas still wasn't sure. But they had treated him politely here, and he was grateful for that.

He turned to look at the other board members. "I can't really go into the specifics of my absence, but I just wanted to thank everyone for making room for me at this table." A lump formed in his throat. "I never felt welcome at this table in years past. I wish that had turned out differently, for a number of reasons. But I want you all to know that I'm very happy to be back, and I will never be away for so long again. And now, I'd like to propose a toast to our Chairperson." He turned to face Gail. "You have been the driving force behind this committee, and a shining example to us all of who and what an Angel should truly be." He turned back to the board members and raised his glass. "To Gail."

"Hear, hear," Bobby said. He picked his glass back up, and so did Patricia. They could withstand another sip, for Gail's sake. Castiel had expressed himself eloquently. The Angels all drank as Gail felt happy tears prickle at her eyes. She appreciated Cas's words, and she was touched by their salute. She'd never had a toast drunk to her before.

"And God's a pretty OK guy, too," Gail quipped, to cover her embarrassment.

They all laughed, and then Cas said, "And there's one more thing." He put his glass down on the table, turning to Gail again. "If you'll all allow me a moment's indulgence, I'd like to be the first to put our new laws to the test. Are you game, Madame Chairperson?"

Gail smiled. She put her glass down beside his. "Oh, what the hell," she replied. "Sorry, Bobby."

The Angels all laughed again as Cas put his arms around Gail and kissed her. Chuck put his fingers to his mouth and whistled as the other board members applauded.

Gail was oblivious. She opened her mouth to Cas's and his tongue found hers for a moment. Then he pulled her tighter to him, and she received confirmation that the new laws were indeed in place.

Cas broke the kiss. "I'd better stop," he said to her softly. "Otherwise, an entirely different type of history might be made in this room." He smiled.

Gail touched his face. "There were parts of that history that I liked a lot," she told him.

Bobby cleared his throat. "Well, I'm outta here," he said. "I think I'll go down to the bunker and have a real drink. No offense, Gail."

She smiled. "Hey, what do you expect for a buck-ninety-five?"

Bobby's beard twitched furiously. "You two comin'?" he asked Gail and Cas.

They looked at each other and shrugged. Why not? They could have a little party of their own. Just the family.

Cas pulled out Gail's usual chair for her at the library table, and then he took the seat he'd always had beside her. He extended his hand to her and after just a moment's hesitation, she took it. His hand closed over hers and he gave it a gentle squeeze, smiling at her.

Sam and Dean exchanged glances. Deja vu all over again. It was kind of sad, but kind of good at the same time.

Bobby waved his hand over the table and Sam and Dean had beers in their hands, while Cas and Gail had whiskey and ginger ales. He gave himself a glass of bourbon.

"And now, the real toast," Bobby said. "To the reunion of our family. Welcome back, Cas."

They all drank. Cas drank too, appreciating Bobby's gesture, and Sam couldn't help but smile. Sam shook his head. He guessed Cas hadn't participated in too much toasting, or he would know that the toastee wasn't generally supposed to drink to his own toast. But Sam supposed he could give Cas some slack for that. There probably wouldn't have been much toasting being done in Heaven, and if there had been, Sam was sure that Cas wouldn't have been the honoree. But even as Sam smiled inwardly at that thought, he realized that he was finally ready to let his anger and resentment towards Cas go. Sam had done a lot of thinking since Gail had rejected him, and Sam could read the handwriting on the wall. It was now only a matter of time before Cas and Gail got back together, and Sam had decided that he could accept that, as long as Cas treated her right from now on.

Sam leaned forward and poured a stiff shot from one of the bottles that Bobby had produced after he'd given them their individual drinks for the toast. What the hell; a party was a party. But Bobby'd had an idea. They had all tried this before when the couple had first been cured, but it had been too soon, and the hard feelings had been too fresh then. He wanted to try it again, though. Bobby still thought that the idea had merit.

He disappeared without a word and then reappeared in the bar where Frank was sitting, nursing a beer and brooding.

Bobby told Frank what he had in mind, and Frank was skeptical. Hadn't they tried this before? But then he realized that he was finally ready to speak his mind. And this time, he wouldn't hold back.

"I wanna play a little game I learned in therapy," Bobby said to the group.

Dean groaned. "Come on, Bobby. I don't want to do that."

"Well, you're gonna do it," Bobby insisted. "I still haven't done my first smiting, and I can't think of a better place to start than with the two of you." He looked at the Winchester brothers with an even glare.

"Me?" Sam protested. "What did I do?"

Bobby tapped his own head with one finger. "God," he said simply.

Sam grinned sheepishly. He knew when he'd been busted.

"Are you OK with this, Frank?" Dean asked Gail's brother, elbowing him.

Frank shrugged, pouring himself a drink. "I dunno. Might be fun."

Dean rolled his eyes. Yeah, right. Fun. He poured himself another shot. Might as well get loaded, if Bobby was going to force them to do this.

"Just one rule to the game," Bobby said to them. "Total and complete honesty. First item: Name something you like about someone else at the table. I'll go first." He looked at Cas. "I like that you're working on that TV show. You can show them a thing or two about what it's really like out there in our world." He smiled. Bobby had purposefully led off on a light note. No sense scaring them off in the first round.

Cas saw Dean smile at that, so he turned to his friend and said, "I like how brave you are. About everything."

Dean did a double-take. Like all the others, he thought that Cas would have gone straight for Gail on this subject. But Cas's comment had pleased him. Cas didn't seem like he was afraid of anything, except for losing Gail, maybe. Dean decided to pay it forward, and he looked at Frank.

"I like how funny you are," Dean said to Frank, "and I like that you're a stand-up guy." Funny; before the reset, Dean would have said that he liked how Frank was standing up for Gail, but he didn't feel that way anymore. He thought that Frank was being a bit unreasonable towards Cas now. Hadn't Cas done enough penance? And now, thanks to his Angel friend's self-sacrifice in saving Sam, Cas had had to do it twice.

Frank nodded at Dean, and then Frank looked at Gail. "I like that you've become a stronger, more independent woman," he said, and then he added, "and you finally seem to be making some good choices for yourself."

Ouch, Bobby thought. Gail gave Frank a baleful look, but she didn't rise to the bait. Nor did she turn to Cas, as both Bobby and Cas had been hoping. Instead, she looked at Sam, but she did so because she had a point to make. "I liked how civilly you spoke to Cas this morning," she told Sam. She smiled at him, and then at Frank. There. If her brother wanted to score his little point, then she could, too.

Cas looked uneasily at the siblings. He didn't want them fighting any more, and especially not over him. They had done that enough.

Sam poured another shot, saluting Gail with it. "And I like that you put booze on the table, Bobby," he quipped.

But Bobby was wondering now if he should have done that. It shouldn't affect the Angels any, but the more that Sam, Dean and Frank had, the more brutally honest they were inclined to become, and Bobby didn't think Frank really needed any help in that department. Still, he thought that this could be cathartic, so he pressed on. "Biggest regret," he said, and he looked at Cas. Might as well get the obvious one out of the way first. "Cas?" he prompted.

Cas looked at Bobby. He had to be kidding. But Cas obediently turned to Gail and took her hand once more. "Everything cruel I ever said to you, or did to you," he told her sadly. "I wish I could take it all back."

Gail nodded, but she took her hand away from his. If wishes were horses, she thought. She looked at Sam again. "I regret that I had to hurt you," she told him. Gail didn't elaborate. She knew he knew what she was talking about.

Sam frowned. This was getting a little too real for him. So he looked at Dean and said, "I regret that I ate the last piece of pie last night," he quipped.

Dean did another double-take as Sam grinned. Then Dean rolled his eyes, looking at Bobby. "I regret ever agreeing to play this stupid game in the first place," he lamented.

Bobby shook his head. The boys were missing the point. They needed to be shown by example. So Bobby looked at Frank and said, "I regret that you've been shut out so often. And I regret not having brought you back when I first got the job."

Frank was touched. Bobby was a good man. But Frank thought about what Bobby wasn't saying: Cas had been the one to do that. And Cas was no longer a bad guy, and he hadn't been one then. Maybe Frank could extend the olive branch a bit. So he looked at Cas and said, "And I regret we didn't get along better when you first brought me back."

Cas was speechless. That was the nicest thing that Frank had ever said to him. Was he dreaming? "Thank you, Frank," he said quietly. "I deeply regret that, too. If I'm allowed to have another one," he said, glancing at Bobby.

Bobby's lips twitched. This was more like it. "Okay, quick," he said to everyone, "without thinking about it, name one thing you each like about Cas. Go."

"He's a good guy," Dean piped up. "He's been really good to me. To us," he amended, looking at Sam. Dean was thinking primarily of the fact that Cas had rescued Dean himself from Hell, and also that Cas had given his brother back to him recently, when Cas had sent Sam and Gail back in time to negate the car accident which had put Sam in the coma. Dean still broke out in a cold sweat when he thought about how close he'd come to pulling the plug on his brother and losing him forever. But there had also been lots of other times Cas had helped to save their lives, and Dean didn't know if he had ever actually thanked Cas for any of them.

To everyone's surprise, even his own, Frank blurted out, "He brought me back from Hell, and gave me my life back. And he gave me a million bucks. And, even though we haven't really gotten along, he did reunite me with my sister, and I have to be grateful to him for that, above anything else."

Gail was astonished to hear her brother talking like that. Just minutes ago, Frank had been making a very thinly veiled reference to her bad judgement in having been with Cas, and now Frank was listing all of the good things that Cas had done for him. Bobby was not only God, he was a magician.

Bobby himself weighed in now. "Castiel the Angel is someone you can rely on," he said. "And Cas, the man, is someone I'm proud to call my friend."

Bobby looked at Gail. "What?" she quipped, but she smiled at Cas to let him know she was kidding. "Do I have to pick just one? OK, how about the fact that he's been extremely patient with me all these months? He hasn't pushed me, he hasn't put any pressure on me at all. Even when I was pushing him away with both hands. How about the fact that he's been nothing but supportive of me while I had to take time to work through my feelings?"

Cas smiled at her. "How could I be otherwise?" he asked Gail. "I told you before, when two people are meant for each other, no time is too long."

Gail was puzzled. "I don't remember you ever saying that."

Dean and Bobby exchanged glances. Oops. They did. Cas had said that to Gail just before he had sent her and Sam back in time to save Sam. Of course she wouldn't remember that, because to her, it had never happened. Dean kicked Cas under the table.

"Oh," Cas said, realizing his mistake. "Well, I'm saying it now, then."

Dean had to turn his head to keep from laughing. Atta boy, Cas.

"He's funny," Sam said suddenly. "But he has no idea how funny he is sometimes, and that makes him even funnier."

Cas thought about that for a moment. He really didn't know if that was a compliment or not. But just the fact that Sam was saying anything positive about him at all made his heart glad.

Bobby was staring at Cas now. "Yes, Bobby?" he asked.

"What about you, Castiel?" Bobby asked. "What do you like about Cas?"

Tears suddenly sprang to Cas's eyes. "I like the fact that he's got such a wonderful family," he said, his voice choking with emotion.

They all sat in silence for a moment as Gail took Cas's hand and gave it a squeeze.

"Yeah, if you call dysfunction wonderful," Sam quipped, and then they all laughed, even Frank.

Bobby drained his glass and stood. "Game's over," he announced. "Everybody wins." Then he promptly disappeared.

The three humans and the two Angels looked at each other, surprised by Bobby's sudden exit. But that had been tactical on his part. Now that he had gotten them all talking to each other in a positive way, Bobby thought that he would remove himself from the situation and see what happened.

After a moment's silence, they all started talking at once. Dean was refilling everyone's drinks. Cas was asking Sam how a person could be funnier if he didn't know he was being funny, and Cas was puzzled when Sam laughed even harder at his question.

While this was going on, Gail stood from her chair and walked around the table to where Frank sat. She tapped him on the shoulder.

"What?" he said, looking up at her.

"Stand up," she said to him.

Frank stood, and Gail put her arms around his waist and hugged him. Frank wrapped his arms around her and held her tightly.

"I love you, you big poopyhead," she said against his chest, and he laughed.

"I love you too, you little - " Frank started to say, then he pulled out of the embrace and chucked her under the chin. "I love you too, kiddo," he said seriously. "And I'm proud of you. You go ahead and live your life any way you want to."

Gail got up on her tiptoes and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "And thanks for what you said to Cas," she said softly.

"I just want to be sure you're all right," Frank said to her. "Whether you like it or not, you'll always be my baby sister. But I know, you're all grown up now. Looks like I might have some growing up to do, too." He let go of her and walked over to Cas, extending his hand.

"Fresh start?" Frank said to Cas.

Cas stood and shook Frank's hand, the lump growing in his throat once again. "I'd like that. Thank you, Frank," he said softly.

Dean's cell phone rang, and he looked at the display. Unknown number. He frowned, debating whether or not to answer it. They were all getting along now, for a welcome change, and the party seemed like it was just starting. And sudden calls from unknown numbers were almost always bad news. But he couldn't not answer it.

"Yo," he said into the phone. It was a woman's voice he heard, one he didn't recognize. It sounded like she might be fighting back tears, but he could barely hear her. Dean shushed the others, and they fell silent.

"My father gave me this number," the woman said to Dean. "He said that Bobby gave it to him, and that we should call it if we ever needed anything."

Bobby? Now she had Dean's attention. "Who are you?" he asked her. "Who's your father?"

"My name is Felicia," the woman told Dean. "And my father's name is Ignatius. Or I should say, his name was Ignatius." She started to cry. "He's dead."

"Ignatius?" Dean said aloud. What was familiar about that name?

Cas rushed over to Dean. "Ignatius?" he asked. "What about him?"

Then Dean remembered. Ignatius was the Angel who had been the presider over Cas's tribunal, and the guy who had given up his Grace so that Cas could be cured. "Hang on," he said to Cas, then Dean spoke into the phone again. "Felicia? I'm gonna put Castiel on the phone."

Gail had moved over to where they were standing. She had a funny feeling about this. Even though Dean hadn't said anything, Gail just had the feeling that something was wrong.

Cas took the phone from Dean. "Felicia?" he said. "It's Castiel here."

Felicia burst into tears. "Castiel? I was just calling to say...my father died last night," she said, sobbing now.

Castiel's heart sank. No. He felt the stab of guilt. He'd talked about going to visit Ignatius, but he had never done it. And now it was too late.

"I'm so sorry, Felicia," Castiel said sadly.

"So am I," she said, sniffling back the tears. "But I have you to thank for bringing him back into my life. These past few months have been the happiest I've ever been since I left Heaven to be with Mark. That's my husband."

Oh, yes, Castiel thought. Mark was a human, and he was the reason that Felicia and her father had not spoken in years. Castiel had made it possible for Ignatius to find his daughter, and when Ignatius had given up his Grace for Cas as part of the cure, the former board member had become human, and therefore mortal.

"The funeral is tomorrow," Felicia told Castiel. "I just thought you might want to know."

"Where?" Castiel said, motioning to Dean for a pen and paper. Dean gave it to him, and Cas jotted down the information.

"Thank you for letting me know, Felicia," Castiel said. "I'll see you tomorrow." He hung up the phone and turned to Gail, anguish on his face. "Ignatius died," he told her.

Gail gasped. She'd had the feeling that something was wrong, but she'd hoped it hadn't been as bad as that. "Oh, no," she said, touching Cas's arm. Now Gail also felt the guilt. They should have taken just one day off to visit him. Even just half a day, to tell him how grateful they were to him for his sacrifice. Now they would never get the opportunity.

"I'll come with you," Gail told Castiel in a hushed voice. "Maybe we should call Bobby and see if he wants to come, too."

"That's a good idea," Castiel said, and he sent out the call to Bobby on Angel Radio.

Bobby came back immediately, and his expression was somber. "It's a shame," he said to the Angels. "It's a damn shame."

"Yeah, it's too bad for his daughter, but wouldn't he just become an Angel again?" Sam said, his brow furrowing.

Bobby shook his head, but he said nothing. He couldn't. When he had looked at the confidential list of the individuals who were designated for the Netherworld, Ignatius's name had been on it. But Bobby could hardly tell them that. He had received a burn of holy fire on his chest already for having told Dean that Sam was on that list, and he was not looking to test the confidentiality seal once again. Reduced to ashes? No, thanks.

But Castiel got it. "He's designated for the Netherworld, isn't he, Bobby?" he asked.

Bobby frowned. "You know I can't tell you that, Cas."

Cas nodded. That statement told him all he needed to know.

Dean knew what they were talking about, of course, but Gail and Sam were puzzled. And so they should have been. Sam had no way of knowing that he himself was on that list, and the reset had wiped Gail's memory of Bobby having told her and Cas about it at the time.

"What are you talking about?" Gail asked Cas and Bobby.

Cas looked at her. He didn't want to be evasive with her, but he couldn't tell her the truth, either. But Bobby bailed him out. "It might be that there might be a list that names the individuals who are slated to go to the Netherworld when they die," he told her. "But that's all I can say about it, so don't ask me anything else." He pointed to Sam. "You, either."

Gail recognized Bobby's serious face when she saw it, so she snapped her mouth shut. "It's so sad," was all she could say.

"Yes, it is," Castiel agreed. He'd had mixed feelings about Ignatius over the centuries, but Cas now felt the weight of the enormous debt he owed to his former colleagues. "Will you come to the service with us tomorrow, Bobby?"

"Yeah, I'll be there," Bobby said glumly. "I'll have to conjure myself up a suit, I guess."

"Can you conjure me something too, while you're at it?" Gail asked him. "I don't have anything appropriate to wear."

Bobby waved his hand absently. "You do now. It's in your closet."

"Thanks, Bobby," Gail said. Ordinarily, she would have made some kind of a quip about him providing her with a full wardrobe while he was at it, but the mood in the room was too somber now, so Gail let it go.

"Come up to my office tomorrow morning and we'll go together," Bobby told her and Cas. Then he said his goodbyes and disappeared again.

The news had dampened Castiel's spirits, and he was no longer in the mood for a party. So he turned to the others and said, "I think I'll go home now. I want to think quietly for a while. Maybe pray, too."

Frank shook his head slowly. Pray. It was hard for Frank to reconcile this Cas with the Cas he had had the misfortune to have to deal with in the recent past. Frank much preferred Angel Cas, to say the least. "He was a friend of yours, I take it?" Frank asked him quietly.

Cas gave Frank a brief, tight smile. "Friend? I'm not really sure how to categorize our relationship, Frank. My feelings on the subject are complicated, as my relationship with Ignatius was. Please, take care of Gail tonight. She will need some comfort."

Gail put her hand on Cas's arm. "Can I talk to you for a minute?" she asked him.

He looked down at her, then winked them outside the bunker. It had been a brilliant, sunny day, but now the weather was unsettled. As Cas looked out onto the field behind the bunker, dark clouds covered the sun and he and Gail were suddenly plunged into shade. Castiel stared up at the sky. Where had those clouds come from, all of a sudden? he thought. Strange.

"Are you going to be all right?" Gail asked him softly.

"Yes, I will," Cas replied. "Thanks to him."

"Do you want to talk about it?" Gail said.

Cas turned around to face her. "Not right now, Gail," he told her. "I just need to spend some time alone, in quiet contemplation. Can you understand that?"

Gail nodded. "Yes, of course I can. I just don't want you to be too sad. Let's try to remember that he got to be with his family at the end, and I'm sure that meant the world to him, and to them. And you made it possible for them to reunite in the first place."

Cas pulled her in for a hug. "Thank you, Gail," he said quietly. "Thank you for that." He gave her a gentle kiss. "I'll see you tomorrow." Then he winked out.

Gail put on the black dress that Bobby had given her and came out to the library area to say goodbye to Frank and Sam and Dean. She moved to her brother and gave him a gentle kiss on the forehead.

"Well, I'll see you guys later," she said softly.

Frank looked up at her, frowning. His sister, the Angel, going to the funeral of a former Angel with God and her Angel boyfriend, who had recently been a Demon, and the biggest douchebag around since Crowley had been spawned. Only in their world.

He and Gail had sat down yesterday after Cas had left and they had finally had that real heart-to-heart talk that had been long overdue. They had each been brutally honest about their feelings, and they had had some words, but at the end of the conversation, they had cried together and hugged each other. Frank felt like he understood Gail better now, and he had now grown to respect her. He was prepared to accept the fact that she seemed ready to forgive Cas, and that she might someday return to him. She had been noncommittal about it, but Frank could tell how she really felt, even if she wasn't yet prepared to admit it. So he supposed he had to give the guy one more chance, and try to forget all about the Demon stuff. That had been an extremely ugly episode in all of their lives, but it was over now, and if Gail seemed ready to let it go, Frank supposed that he could, too. He really did love his sister, and Frank didn't want to be the odd man out any more. Dysfunctional as they might be, as Sam had half-joked, they were all Frank's family now, and he liked that fact.

Gail thought she understood Frank better now, too. It was funny. All those years of travelling together, just the two of them, and she had never really known how Frank felt about, well, pretty much anything. Like Dean at times, Frank had never really been one to share, preferring action to talking. But he had really opened up last night, and that had been the first time she had felt like they were relating to each other as two normal adult individuals, rather than a big brother talking down to his little baby sister.

"I'll give Cas a hug for you, Dean," she said, and Dean gave her a tight smile. Funerals were the worst. Dean tried to avoid them whenever possible. He could only imagine how Cas must be feeling right now. This Ignatius guy had presided over Cas's tribunal, and had helped to sentence him to death, but he had also come through for Cas when it had really counted. Dean's feelings would be complex, too. "Do that," he told Gail.

Cas was already in Bobby's office when Gail arrived, and she was taken aback when she saw that they were talking to two other men. Daniel and Gregory!

Gail approached the group a little hesitantly, but Cas reached out and took her hand, drawing her nearer.

"How are you, Gail?" Daniel asked her.

"Not great today, but generally, fine," she replied softly. "How are both of you?"

"The same," Gregory replied, with a ghost of a smile.

"Congratulations on getting the new laws ratified," Daniel said to her. "Bobby let us have a peek at the document, and it's quite impressive."

"Thank you," Gail said, "but Castiel deserves a lot of the credit. He helped me wade through the ancient language, and he wrote a lot of the clauses himself. I would have been lost without him. All I did was wield a mean gavel, basically," she added, smiling faintly.

Cas squeezed her hand in appreciation of her words, but what Gregory said next startled both of them.

"Ignatius's gavel?" Gregory said. "I was wondering what had happened to it."

Gail looked at him sharply. "That was his?" she said, amazed. She honestly hadn't thought about where the thing had come from. Now she wasn't sure how she should feel. That was the gavel that Ignatius had used to adjudicate the tribunal, the one event that had changed everything in her and Cas's lives for the worse. And she had been sitting there, holding it in the meetings. Was that fitting, or was it just nauseating? She wasn't sure.

But this was the day of Ignatius's funeral, and so it wasn't about Gail, or about Cas, either. In fact, Gail had an idea about that.

"Excuse me. I'll be right back," Gail said to the group.

"Where are you going?" Bobby said, frowning. "We need to leave soon, if we're going to be there on time."

"I'll just be two seconds, I promise," Gail told him, and she hurried out of his office and down the hall to the boardroom. Fortunately, the gavel was still there, sitting on the table where she'd left it. She grabbed it and brought it back to Bobby's office.

"What are you doing with that?" Castiel asked.

"I thought I'd give it to Felicia," Gail told him. "Something of her father's, from Heaven."

Castiel looked at her, impressed. He knew she would have been thinking about the tribunal, as he had been. Seeing Daniel and Gregory had brought it all back. But Castiel had talked to them for a while before Gail had gotten there, and they had been nothing but kind and cordial with him. Bobby had told Cas that the two Angels had served well ever since the tribunal, and they had never complained, nor did they ever have a mean word to say about anyone. And that was all Bobby could ask for, really. He had invited both of the Angels to attend Ignatius's service, and they had been grateful for his invitation. They wanted to pay their respects to their fallen Brother. And when Bobby had cautioned them that Castiel and Gail would be there, the two men had been very eager to see their former board member.

"That was very thoughtful of you," Cas said to Gail now. "I'm sure that Felicia will appreciate the gesture."

Gail handed him the gavel, and he looked at it for a moment. Who would have ever thought that such a small wooden object could be such a talisman of the vagaries of life? It symbolized tragedy in the form of the tribunal hearings, but it also symbolized triumph, in the form of the new laws. And now, it would be a keepsake for Ignatius's daughter. She might pass it on to her son, and after a few generations, it might sit collecting dust on some distant relative's mantel. Someone who had no idea that it represented all that was wrong and right with Heaven, at the same time.

"I'll hold it for you until the time is right for you to give it to her," Castiel said to Gail, and he slipped it into his jacket pocket.

"All right, let's go," Bobby said, and they all winked out of his office.

"Thank you all so much for coming," Felicia said to the group, outside the church. "It would mean a lot to him to see you all here." Her eyes were red from crying, but she was fairly composed at the moment. She even managed to give Bobby a faint smile. "Hey, not too many people can say that God attended their service personally," she told him.

"Your father was a decent and honourable man," Bobby said in response. He took her hand in his and patted it. "I'm glad he was able to spend his last days with you and your family."

Felicia glanced back towards the church, where Mark and Robbie were already entering going down the aisle to take their seats. Felicia had come out here specifically to greet the Angel contingent. Everyone else that was attending the service, the few of them that there were, would be humans, and they would not know that these people weren't. Because of that, they would have to choose their words carefully, and Felicia had wanted a moment to be able to speak plainly before the ceremony.

Felicia looked at Castiel. "I understand now," she told him. "My father told me everything before he died. I'm sorry for what you went through, Castiel, and for you too, Gail. He told me about the tribunal. He felt it was his biggest shame, and he had come to deeply regret it." Felicia dabbed at her eyes with a wad of tissues. "But he also said that you took mercy on him, Castiel, and that you were the one who made it possible for him to find me. And you will have my eternal gratitude for that." She hugged Castiel, and gave him a soft kiss on the cheek.

Then she stepped back. "I was angry at first, when he told me that he had voluntarily given up his Grace, and that he was going to be a human. But I didn't know the full story then. My father told me how the board had treated you all those years, and how he didn't do anything to defend you in all that time, even though he didn't feel the same way as some of them not present here today did. Then my father told me that he had actually sentenced you to death, although it had been against his better judgement, and then he stood by while they executed you, Castiel, and forced you to watch it, Gail. And when he told me that, he hung his head and cried in shame."

Gail was crying now, too. That was one of the worst memories she had. She really wasn't sure how to feel right now; about Ignatius, or about anything.

But Daniel and Gregory knew how they felt, and they hung their heads when Felicia said that. Castiel had absolved them, but they had never quite absolved themselves of the part that they had played in that.

"I'm sorry. I'm not saying any of this to make any one of you feel bad," Felicia said to them. "I just wanted to convey to you that my father was truly repentant at the end, and now I understand why he felt that he needed to do what he did."

Cas and Gail exchanged glances. Neither of them was sure how they should feel about what Felicia was saying. So, Ignatius was repentant before he died. Well, that was nice, but the damage had already been done, hadn't it? But in another way, by making the ultimate sacrifice, Ignatius had done his best to put it right again.

But it was too bad he couldn't have turned back the clock at the same time, Gail thought. A part of her did want to retain those memories though, too; that was why she had never asked Castiel to simply modify her memory. She knew that he could do it. But somehow it seemed important to her that she never forget about how weak she had allowed herself to become when she was at her lowest point. Maybe to ensure that she would never be that way again. Regardless of whatever happened between her and Cas in the future, that had been the most important lesson for Gail to learn. So, she would make sure that she never forgot. But, could she ever truly forgive?

Cas had been wondering the very same thing. She seemed a lot more conciliatory towards him these days, but they hadn't even talked about the possibility of her coming back to him. Perhaps he would broach the subject today, after the services, just to see if she was even willing to discuss it. But for now, they had to attend to the business at hand. He raised an eyebrow to Gail, and she nodded.

Castiel reached into his pocket and handed Felicia the gavel. "This was your father's. Gail thought you should have it," he told Ignatius's daughter.

Felicia looked at the gavel, and then she moved over to Gail and said, "Thank you. That was very thoughtful." The two women hugged, and Felicia dabbed at her eyes again. "We'd better get inside now." She looked at Castiel again. "I wonder if you would be so kind as to say a few words at the service?"

Castiel was startled. She wanted him to speak? Him? He had never been any good at public speaking. Gail smiled inwardly, remembering how much trouble he'd had saying just a few words to the ABH when he'd been called upon to speak.

"No one here on Earth knew him all that well," Felicia continued. "It would mean a lot to me and my family if you could possibly say a few kind words about him." She smiled through her tears. "Maybe you could leave out the part of having worked with him for centuries, though."

Castiel gave her a faint smile in return. But since she had put it that way, he could hardly refuse.

They walked into the church and Felicia moved to the front pew to sit with her husband and their son. The group of Angels sat together a few rows back.

Gail was staring at the coffin. Wow. Seeing that made it pretty real to her. Now she started to feel really bad for Felicia, and for her family. When Felicia had sat down, her husband had put his arm around her, and Gail could tell that Felicia was crying again.

The service began, and when the priest invited anyone who wished to do so to speak, Castiel sighed and rose from the pew. He walked up the aisle, gave the coffin a brief touch on his way by, and then stood in front of the lectern.

Cas cleared his throat, and then he said, "I knew Ignatius for a very long time. We worked together for many years."

A few of the humans exchanged glances at that. Many years? This guy didn't look THAT old.

"We didn't always see eye to eye on everything, I'll admit," Castiel continued. "But he was a decent and honourable man, and he was a very hard worker." He considered how he could put what he wanted to say next, and then he said, "And he recently did something very kind for myself and my wife, and I want Felicia and her family to know how much we appreciate it. You have a beautiful family, and I'm glad that you were able to spend time together at the end."

Castiel gave Ignatius's daughter a gentle smile. "To paraphrase, if we remember someone in our hearts, they are never truly gone from us," he said. Then he stepped away from the podium and walked over to Felicia's family. He gave Felicia a hug, shook Mark's hand, and gave little Robbie a wave. Then Cas came back to the pew where the Angels were seated and he sat back down.

Gail looked at him. What he had said was very nice, if brief, but she thought that his gestures were very sweet, both when he had touched the coffin, and when he had greeted the family. But something was bothering her about what he'd said. She would have to talk to him about it afterwards.

Bobby had stood to let Cas back in, and now he supposed he should step up to the plate, too. So he squared his shoulders, and walked up to the podium. "I just wanted to add a few words," Bobby told the assembled mourners. "I worked with Ignatius too, and even though I didn't get to know him as well as I might have liked, I know he was a good man at heart, and I'm very glad that he got to spend his last days with his family. Family is the most important thing, whoever they may be. May he rest in peace."

Then Bobby stepped away from the podium and greeted the family, as Cas had done. Felicia's heart swelled with pride for her father. Not only had the reigning God himself come to her father's service, but he had also addressed her human friends, and personally greeted her family. Things had certainly changed in Heaven since the days that she and her father had first become estranged. While Bobby was not the original God that that Felicia and her father and Castiel had served under, Bobby seemed to her like a kinder and more compassionate one, and much more approachable than his predecessor had been. Felicia's father had also told her as part of his confession that he had not given Bobby much consideration when their Father had first appointed him to the post, but Ignatius had grown to respect Bobby, and he had thought that Heaven was being left in good hands.

The service concluded shortly afterwards, and the pallbearers wheeled the coffin down the aisle as Ignatius's family trailed behind. The Angels filed out of their pew and outside with the other mourners into the bright, sunny day. Felicia approached their group. "Thank you again for coming. It meant a lot to me to have some people who really knew my Dad there." She smiled. "Mark knows who we really are, of course, but we wanted to wait until Robbie was a little bit older before we tell him. It's kind of a unique situation, and we just want to make sure he understands."

Boy, I'll say, Bobby thought. He pictured Robbie being bullied in school and threatening to sic a host of Angels on his tormentors. Bobby smiled inwardly at the image.

Robbie came running up to them then, and he tugged on his mother's dress. "Dad says we're gonna have a party after we go to the cemetery," he told her.

Felicia smiled down at him. "Not a party, exactly," she told her son, "but if you behave yourself around our guests, you can have a piece of cake."

"I wish Grandpa was gonna be there," Robbie said, frowning. But then his expression brightened, and he looked up at Castiel. "But I remember him in my heart."

Gail felt the tears start to prickle at her eyes again. Oh, God, this kid was killing her. She remembered what Castiel had said to her right before he was executed; he had been paraphrasing himself at Ignatius's service. If only she still had Robbie's innocence. But it had been a very sweet and hopeful thing to say. Too bad they wouldn't see Ignatius in Heaven. That seemed so unfair to her, somehow.

Cas felt the lump in his throat. "That's right," he said to Robbie.

Robbie ran off to stand beside his father, and he grabbed Mark's hand, but he was smiling at the group of Angels, almost as if he knew who and what they were. Bobby cleared his throat, trying to get rid of the massive lump he also had there.

"Well, dear, I think we'll be going now," he said to Felicia now. He took both her hands in his. "I'm very sorry for your loss."

Impulsively, Felicia hugged him, but she stepped back quickly. "Oh, I'm sorry, my Lord. I didn't mean to..."

Gail had to turn around then, so Felicia wouldn't see her grin. Gail would definitely have to tease Bobby about that at another time, once it was more appropriate.

"Oh, now don't go calling me that," Bobby said to Felicia. "Bobby is just fine."

Felicia thanked Daniel and Gregory for coming, and they both accepted her hands briefly in theirs, speaking a few words of praise for her father. Then Felicia hugged Gail, thanking her again for the gift of her father's gavel. Felicia had given it to Mark to hold for the moment, and she assured Gail it would occupy a place of honour in their living room, where Ignatius had spent many happy hours recently talking with Felicia and Mark, and playing with Robbie.

Then Felicia turned to Castiel. "Thank you for coming, and for your kind words," she said to him, hugging him again. Then she walked over to join her family, and they got into the limousine that would follow the hearse to the cemetery.

The Angels watched the funeral procession drive down the street, and then Bobby turned to the group. "Well," he said. That was all that he could think of to say at the moment.

Cas turned to Gail. "Would you like to go somewhere and talk for a bit?" he asked her.

She nodded. "Sure, Cas."

Cas shook hands with Daniel and Gregory, as he had shown them how to do earlier in Bobby's office, and he told Bobby they'd see him later. Then the three men went back to Heaven, leaving Cas and Gail standing alone.

They walked over to the park across the street from the church and sat down on a bench.

Cas was silent for a moment, and then he said, "I don't really know how to feel right now."

"I know," Gail agreed. "I feel the same way. I can only imagine what it must be like for you."

He looked at her. "Do you think that there will ever be a time when you can truly forgive me?" Cas blurted out.

"Let's not talk about that right now," Gail said uncomfortably.

"If not now, then when?" Cas asked her softly.

Gail sighed. "When I'm ready," she said shortly.

Cas frowned. He didn't want to push her, but he felt discouraged. "I don't know what you want me to do, Gail," he said, sighing.

She didn't know, either. She just knew that she wasn't quite there yet. But what more could he do, really?

"Maybe stop calling me your wife, for one thing," Gail said.

Cas looked at her in surprise. "When did I do that?" he asked her.

"In your eulogy," she replied.

Cas didn't even realize he had done that. He knew she had told him before that she didn't like that. But he couldn't help it; she was his mate, as far as he was concerned. "I can't apologize for that," he said, giving her a faint smile.

"I'm not looking for an apology," Gail said. But what was she looking for, then? She honestly didn't know any more.

Cas got up and walked over to the edge of the duck pond. He was frustrated. They weren't communicating. She said she needed more time. But what else did she need from him?

Gail let out a breath. She was being unfair. Wasn't she? What DID she need from him? She got up and walked over to where he stood. "I'm sorry, Cas," she said, lightly touching his back. "I don't know what my problem is."

He turned around. "I do," he said. "You don't trust me anymore."

"No, that's not true," she said quickly. "That's what Crowley claimed, but I told him that he was wrong, and I'm telling you that, too."

"Crowley?" he said sharply.

Oh, crap. She hadn't meant to say that.

"When did you talk to him?" Castiel said, alarmed.

Gail sighed. She supposed she might as well tell him the truth. "I've seen him, from time to time," she told Cas. "A few times, when Kevin was stumped and Sam was elsewhere, I needed some help with the ancient language."

Cas was getting angry. "Why didn't you call me, then?"

"Because. Just...because," Gail answered evasively. Because she hadn't wanted him to think that she needed him. Because she'd wanted to try to live her life separate from him, to see if she could do it, and what it would feel like. But her little experiment hadn't worked, had it? It seemed like no matter what she did, she and Cas were always drawn together, like two very strong magnets, or something. Was it love, or was it that stupid blood bond? But shouldn't that have been erased by the potion that had cured them? And what about Crowley? She had met with him in secret, and she had enjoyed the King of Hell's company. He had seemed sophisticated and urbane to her, and he was always a gentleman. Plus, he was funny. Or was that the blood bond talking?

She really wasn't sure any more.

"Do we still have a blood bond?" Gail blurted out.

Cas's brow furrowed. "You and I?" he asked. "No, that should have gone away with the cure." He frowned again. "And so should yours with Crowley have. Why have you been seeing him, Gail? Tell me the truth."

She shrugged. "He helped me with some stuff, that's all."

"I know you don't like it when I tell you my opinion about that, but I will say it again. That's a bad idea, Gail. You have to know that," Cas said earnestly.

"What are you talking about?" she asked him, puzzled. "This is the first time we've ever spoken about this."

But it wasn't. They had had this argument before. The trouble was, Gail wouldn't know it. That conversation had taken place before Castiel had sent Gail and Sam back. Cas had to stop doing that.

He reached out and took both of her hands in his. "Please don't see him anymore, Gail," he said.

Gail smiled. "He told me you would say that."

Cas sighed. He was extremely frustrated now. He didn't want to become angry with her, but he didn't want her sneaking off to meet with the King of Hell, either.

"We serve Heaven, and he is not our ally," he told her.

"I know that," Gail responded.

"Then why would you call him to help you?" Cas said, raising his voice. "If you need something, you should be calling me!"

"I don't want to rely on you for everything, Cas," Gail said. She took her hands away from his. "That's how I got into so much trouble in the first place."

"What do you mean?" he asked her.

"You were everything to me, Cas," she said sadly. "But you can't be everything to me, not any more. I lost myself in that house, Cas. Now I've found myself again. But I'm afraid if I start relying on you again, I'll lose all the progress I've made."

"You won't," he insisted. "I love you, and I respect you. I'm not a Demon any more, Gail."

She frowned. She knew that. And she did love him, but: "I just need a bit more time, Cas."

He sighed again. Now that the new laws had been passed, there would no longer be any reason for her to call him. But how could they communicate, if they never spoke? And he needed to be able to see her. She was trying to push him away again, but he couldn't let her do it this time.

"Why don't you ask Bobby for a holiday?" he said in a light tone. "Come to Vancouver for a while. All of the people I work with would love to meet you, and you can see Barry again. The last time I saw him, he said that Tommy was back from being out on the road. Maybe we can go over and see the both of them."

Gail thought about that. It sounded pretty good to her, actually. She had been working hard, her nose buried in musty old books for months now. How long had it been since she'd had any fun? But she didn't trust herself to be alone with Cas, not yet.

"How about this?" she said to him. "How about if I ask Sam and Dean to come, too? Frank, too, if he wants? Make it a real family holiday?"

Cas was a little disappointed by her response; clearly, she still didn't feel comfortable being alone with him. But if that was the only way he could spend any time with her, he would take it. As long as she was willing to come, that meant that there was still a chance.

"That would be great," he enthused.

"I'll go home and talk to the guys, then," she told him. "Then I'll call you and let you know." She moved closer to him and kissed him lightly on the cheek. "Thanks for being so patient with me," she said softly.

Cas smiled. "I've said it before: We're eternal beings. We've got all the time in the world. But I would like you to consider something, if you would."

"What's that?" she asked.

He put his arms around her and kissed her on the mouth. The kiss deepened, and he opened her mouth with his tongue. She almost pulled away, but then she couldn't help but respond. Her tongue met his, and his arms tightened around her.

He ended the kiss and looked at her. "That," he said simply.

"I'll be considering that for quite a while tonight," she said mischievously.

"Please do," he said, smiling. "Remember, I may be an Angel, but I'm not a Saint."

Gail returned his smile, shaking her head slowly. Cas. She would have to do something about him soon, before he drove her nuts.

"I'll be considering the heck out of that," she said softly.

"Good," he said. "I'll look forward to your call, then." And then he disappeared.

Gail stood there for a moment, staring at the empty space where he'd been standing. She had to hand it to him; always leave them wanting more. And who was she kidding, anyway? She should just pack up all of her stuff and haul it up to Vancouver, right now. Had she ever seriously thought she could live without him?

She winked herself back to the bunker.


	4. The Power To Carry It Out

Dean had missed the road, so he had insisted on driving the Impala all the way to Vancouver. "Baby needs to stretch her legs," he'd insisted. Sam and Gail had rolled their eyes and smiled at each other. "And, driver picks the tunes," Dean had added, looking at the two of them pointedly.

Sam winked at Gail. "We'll see," he said. "He's gotta sleep sometime."

Gail smiled. She was so glad that things seemed back to normal between them now.

"I'll be leaving now, too," Frank told them.

Gail looked at her brother, feeling a little sad. Well, things were almost all OK. She had invited her brother, but he had said no. "Is it Cas?" she had asked him. But Frank had claimed that it wasn't; he just wanted to get back out on the road, work some cases. Still, Gail wondered. But she wasn't going to push him. He seemed a little more conciliatory towards Cas now, but maybe her brother needed a little more time, too.

She hugged Frank now. "Keep in touch," she told him. "Call me anytime you want. Or, you could just pray to me," she teased him.

"Pray to YOU?" he scoffed. "FOR you, maybe."

Even a week ago, Gail would have felt angry at that comment, reading all kinds of things into it. But the fact that he'd said it in his usual tone of voice signaled a return to normalcy for brother and sister, too. Gail laughed happily. "Hey, I can use all the help I can get," she quipped.

Once Frank had said his goodbyes and took off, Dean turned to Gail. "You packed yet?" he asked her.

"Yeah, I'm ready to go," Gail told him. "Let's hit it."

Cas was excited. They were finally going to arrive today. He'd left word with the studio security guard to let them in as soon as they arrived. Richard had said that it was all right for Gail and the brothers to come onto the set, and Cas was looking forward to showing them around.

"Sit still, Cas," Brenda said. "I'm trying to get your tie straight."

"Sorry," he said, trying to remain still.

She smiled. It was cute how antsy he was. So, the revered Gail was finally going to make an appearance. Brenda and the rest of the girls had been dying of curiosity. She looked up at Nicole, who was taking Cas's trenchcoat off the hanger.

"Here you go, Cas," Nicole said, bringing it to him. He jumped off the chair and Nicole helped him put it on. Cas looked at himself in the mirror, grinning. Castiel, his TV persona. It was funny to think that he used to dress this way every day, all the time. He was glad that Gail had encouraged him to dress in Earthly clothing. Now he couldn't imagine wearing the same clothes each and every day. Still, he was glad that Gail's first sight of him would be of him dressed in this manner. Hopefully, she would recall the Angel he'd been when they had first met. He was different now, of course, but he wanted her to be reminded that he was primarily an Angel again, and a good man.

"Good to go, Cas," Nicole said. "We can't wait to meet Gail and your friends."

"I can't wait for them to get here," he told her, smiling. "You'll like them." He couldn't wait to see Sam and Dean's faces when they saw him pretending to fight an actor who was only playing a Demon. Hopefully, they wouldn't succumb to the urge to grab their knives.

Brenda and Nicole trooped behind Cas as he exited the wardrobe trailer. There was no way that they were going to let him out of their sight today. They didn't want to miss the arrival of his friends.

The security guard saw the Impala drive up to the gate, and he did a double-take. These were Cas's friends? But the guys looked like - And they drove a '67 Impala, too? They had to be kidding with this. Were these guys that obsessed with the show?

"Sam and Dean Winchester?" he quipped.

"Yeah," Dean said. "Cas said you would be expecting us."

The guard grinned. OK, this was too funny. Wait until he told his friends. He wished he weren't on duty right now; he would love to take a picture of this.

"Go right in," he said, pushing the button to lift the bar.

"What was he smiling at?" Dean asked Sam and Gail, as he drove onto the lot.

"Think about it," Gail said. "You guys look like Sam and Dean Winchester, and you're driving an Impala."

"We look like Sam and Dean because we ARE Sam and Dean," Dean retorted.

"Dean we've been through this before, lots of times," Sam said, grinning. "Chuck's books, remember?"

Dean rolled his eyes, glancing at Gail in the back seat. "You remember to thank him for that, the next time you see him," he said sarcastically.

But Gail was ignoring him. She was too busy looking around the lot. Where was he? The long drive here from the bunker had heightened her anticipation.

Then she saw Cas. He was standing outside one of the studio buildings, waiting for them. Dean saw him too, and he pulled the car to a halt.

"Look at that guy," Dean quipped. "What a loser."

"Yeah, that trenchcoat look is soooo nine years ago," Sam chimed in.

Gail smiled. Situation normal. This should be a fun vacation.

Cas rushed over to the car as they all got out. "I'm so glad that you're here," he said to them. "We're just about to shoot a fight scene. You two will enjoy watching this," he said to the brothers.

Gail moved forward to kiss him on the cheek, but he grabbed her gently by the upper arms and held her at arm's length.

"What's the matter?" she asked him, concerned. Was he self-conscious because they were at his workplace?

"I'm sorry, Gail," he said sheepishly. "I can't smear my makeup."

Sam and Dean looked at each other incredulously, and Gail laughed. "Of all the things you guys have ever heard Cas say, how does that rank for weirdness?" she asked them.

A production assistant poked his head out of the building. "They need you on set, Cas," he said.

"Come on," Cas said to the trio. Then he grabbed Gail's hand and smiled. "No makeup there," he told her.

He led them into the studio building, explaining what everything was as they went. Then they got to the inner studio set, which was made up to look like the interior of a house.

"Hey, Cas," a man said casually, walking over to where they stood. "You ready to do this?"

"Always," Cas said, smiling.

Sam and Dean were gaping at the guy. Black eyes! He saw the way they were looking at him.

"I'm playing the Demon," the man said to them, smiling. "All-black contacts. Pretty cool, huh?"

Gail was smirking at the brothers' expressions. Truthfully, she'd been taken aback for half a second, too. Wow. This fake stuff was going to take a little getting used to. If those black eyes of his had been real, he would have been dead the second they'd all walked in the door.

"I have to go," Cas said, squeezing her hand. He walked onto the set alongside the faux Demon, and the two men stood patiently as the crew set up the shot.

Then they were filming the scene, and the Winchesters watched, amused, as Cas "attacked" the other man with a fake Demon blade. They staged a very realistic-looking fight, and Dean pumped his fist when Cas finally pinned the "Demon" onto the floor. Gail had to clap a hand over her mouth to keep from laughing out loud.

Then Cas returned to where they stood. "So, what did you think?" he asked them, smiling. "Not bad," Sam said, "but why didn't you kill him?" He grinned.

Cas returned his smile. "Because they're going to bring the actor who plays - " he lowered his voice " - me - to film some closeups."

"Then I'd better stick around," Gail said teasingly. "Him, I've got to meet. See who's more handsome in person."

"That's it, Cas, we got it in one," the assistant director called out.

"Thanks," Cas called back. Then he drew Gail to him and kissed her on the mouth. "I don't have to worry about my makeup anymore," he told her, smiling.

"What do you mean?" Dean said incredulously. He looked at Sam. "What's he mean?"

"He means, I'm done for the day," Cas said happily. "Now I can show you all around."

"You're done for the day?" Dean repeated. "Three minutes, and you're done for the day?"

"Welcome to show business," Cas quipped, taking Gail's hand in his.

"And how much do they pay you for those three minutes?" Sam asked Cas, astounded.

Cas shrugged. "It doesn't matter. I give almost all of it to charity, anyway."

Gail gave his hand a squeeze and he looked at her, smiling. They both knew where the money was going. Between his job and his poker-playing, Cas had been fattening up another envelope for Richard.

"Charity," Dean moaned, prompting Gail to give him a look. He and Sam were still millionaires, due to Cas's generous gift, and Sam's subsequent shrewd investments. "You know, it wouldn't hurt you to kick in a little to a worthy cause, either," she admonished him.

"Me? I give to a very worthy cause," Dean told her.

"Strippers and bartenders don't count," she shot back, and they laughed together.

"Gail is right," Cas said, smiling at the two of them. Dean rolled his eyes. Yeah, this was like the good old days now. Cas siding with Gail about everything, Surprise, surprise. "It wouldn't hurt for you to be a bit more charitable, Dean. Don't you want to be an Angel one day? Remember, we have new laws in Heaven now," Cas added, raising an eyebrow to his friend.

Zoey, Brenda and Nicole walked up to the quartet. "Come meet my friends," Cas said to the women. "Dean and Sam, and Gail, of course," he said, bringing her hand up to his mouth and kissing it. "These are the wardrobe and makeup assistants," Cas told his group.

Gail felt the womens' eyes on her, sizing her up. And she was busy doing the same. Which one of these women had the biggest crush on Cas? she wondered. She'd had the feeling there was something going on, ever since they had entered the lot. She looked at each of them in turn. Zoey was looking at Gail with an expression of frank curiosity, but her smile was friendly enough. Nicole had briefly glanced at her, but was now looking at Dean, and her eyes had widened. Gail had known for a while now that all three of these men resembled their actor counterparts enough to warrant more than a second glance. She smiled. They were sure to get a lot of looks like that today.

It must be Brenda, then. Bingo; when Gail looked at Brenda, she saw that Brenda was staring at Cas. Not that Gail could blame her. When she'd first seen Castiel dressed in the same outfit he used to wear every day when they'd first met, the sight had taken her back to the very beginning of their relationship, when she had first fallen in love with him. The second anniversary of their having met was almost here, and she had seen him so many different ways since then. Angel, hero, human, lover, defendant, Demon tormentor and abuser, and now back to Angel again. They had both changed a lot in the last couple of years, yet they were still here together, and still holding hands.

"I need to talk to you," she said to him softly.

Cas looked at her. "And I wanted to talk to you, too," he said, smiling gently.

"Can we do it now?" she asked him. "I have something really important to tell you."

Since she'd put it that way, he could hardly say no. "Excuse us for a moment," he said to the rest of the group. "Ladies, can you keep Sam and Dean entertained while we're gone?"

"I think we can manage that," Nicole said, smiling at Dean. He was looking back at her. She was kinda cute, he thought. "Do you guys want to see the car we use on the show?" Nicole said to Dean. "You look like a man who appreciates a nice ride."

Dean did a double-take. Did she really just say that to him? He thought he could really like this woman.

Sam grinned, rolling his eyes. He didn't know if that had been a double entendre or not, but in any event, Nicole certainly knew how to get his brother's attention.

"We'll come find you," Cas said, and he led Gail out of the building. They stood outside in the bright sunshine for a moment. People were moving all around the lot, and several of them greeted Cas as they walked by.

"Can we go somewhere private for a minute?" Gail asked him. There were too many people around here for what she needed to say to him.

"Sure," Cas said. He led her by the hand into the wardrobe trailer and closed the door behind them. The trailer was narrow on this end, and they stood close to each other between the racks of clothes.

"What is it, Gail?" Cas asked her.

She touched his face. "I forgive you, Cas."

His heart leaped. He'd been hoping to hear her say that to him for so long. And now that she'd actually said it, he had no idea what to say to her in return.

But he did know what to do. He embraced her gently. "Thank you," he murmured into her ear. He held her for a while, and when he finally pulled out of the embrace to look at her face, his face was wet with tears.

"Oh, don't do that, Cas," Gail said, but she was crying herself, now. "Think about your poor makeup," she tried to quip.

"Makeup? What makeup?" he said, and he kissed her, smiling through his tears now.

The door to the trailer opened suddenly. "Hey, Cas, quit making out in the workplace," Sam said, grinning.

Gail turned to look at him, ready to make a smartass comment, but then she looked at him again. This guy was tall like Sam, and he resembled Sam, but -

Cas laughed, and he introduced her to the actor.

"Oh, so you're Gail," he said, taking her hand. "Cas talks about you all the time. It's nice to finally meet you."

She gaped up at him. Now that she'd seen one of these guys up close, Gail understood the looks that the real Sam and Dean had been receiving, as far back as the convention in Las Vegas. While hardly identical twins, this man had Sam nailed, even down to the trademark grin.

"Maybe Castiel should get a girlfriend on the show," the actor teased. Then he pretended to think about it. "Naaahh, nobody'd ever believe that."

Cas and Gail smiled at each other. "No, nobody would," Cas said. "He's not nearly handsome enough."

"Oh, I don't know," Gail said. "He's pretty charming when you get to know him."

"Are you coming to the party tonight?" the actor asked Cas.

"I don't know," Cas replied. "My friends just got here."

"So bring them," the actor said casually. "Put their names on the list. Tell Richard I said it's OK. It should be a lot of fun. Dinner, dancing, the whole nine. It's not every day you get to celebrate your 300th show."

Cas brightened. He'd kind of wanted to go to the party, and he'd been planning to ask Gail, but he hadn't wanted to be rude by running out on Sam and Dean on their first night here. "Thanks, I'll do that."

They'd done their studio tour, and now Dean was ready to go and get a cold beer somewhere. He and Sam had worked fast. When Cas asked them to go to the party, their female tour hosts had expressed enthusiasm for the idea. They'd been having a good time looking at the different versions of the Impala that were used on the show, and when Cas had come back, he had showed them the prop weapons they used. The brothers turned the fake weapons around in their hands, shaking their heads. Unbelievable. They looked so real.

"You can sit at our table at the party," Nicole said, briefly touching Dean's arm. "I've got lots of behind-the-scenes stories I could tell you."

"I've got lots of stories I could tell you, too," Dean said, smirking.

Sam lifted an eyebrow to his brother. Fun was fun, but Dean had better be careful. If you pulled even one thread on that sweater, it could unravel in a hurry.

Sam and Dean wanted a drink, and Gail wanted to see Barry. So they all went to the casino then, and when Barry saw Gail, he rushed over to her and hugged her.

"Hi, stranger!" Barry said to her.

"Hi'ya, handsome," she said, kissing him on the cheek. "What's the haps?"

He shook his head, smiling. She was the least Angel-like Angel he had ever met. But then again, considering he had only ever met two, Barry supposed he didn't have much of a basis for comparison.

But then he frowned. As happy as he was to see her, Barry had also been going through some heartbreak of his own. "I'll tell you later," he said. Then Cas was introducing him to Sam and Dean, and as Barry shook their hands, he was amazed. Were these guys Angels, too? No, wait; these were the guys that Cas had told him about before, and they were definitely human. For a minute there, Barry was relieved. He would almost have had to kill himself if all of the guys in Heaven were as good-looking as these three men. Gail certainly had good taste in companionship, he thought with faint amusement.

Gail hooked her arm through Barry's. "You guys go play for a while," she told them. "I've got to catch up with my boyfriend," she said teasingly, looking up at Barry.

Cas laughed, and Sam and Dean exchanged glances. What was up with this? Gail was being affectionate with another guy, calling him her boyfriend, even, and Cas was laughing about it?

Gail saw their expressions, and she couldn't help but be amused by their confusion. This was a little corner of her and Cas's lives that the brothers really knew nothing about. She'd liked herself and Cas when they had been here. They had been free and easy then, and they had been happy for a short time. And having Sam and Dean here was reminding her of their time in Las Vegas, too. This had been a day for memories, all right. But all of these memories were making her happy, not sad, for the first time in ages. She supposed that was what the power of forgiveness was. Once you were able to let go of all of the bad feelings and resentments, you were able to open up enough to let the happiness back in.

"I'll see you in a bit," she said, smiling at Cas. "I'm going to take my work husband to coffee." Cas put his arm around her waist and gave her a squeeze. "Have fun," he said.

Gail and Barry walked away, and Sam and Dean were staring at Cas. Who was this guy, and what had he done with Cas?

"What?" he asked them. "Barry?" He shrugged. "I'm not that other guy any more. And besides, he's gay."

Dean did a double-take. "Him?" he asked Cas. "But he doesn't seem - "

Castiel regarded him evenly. "Yes, Dean? What did you expect?"

Dean tried again. "But he doesn't look - "

Sam grinned. "Dig that hole deeper, Dean," he said, highly amused.

Cas shook his head slowly. "You should open your mind, Dean."

Dean thought about that for a moment. He guessed that Cas was right. Barry had apparently been a good friend to Cas and Gail when they had lived here, and they obviously thought the world of him. Dean had been guilty of some closed-minded thinking when it came to that subject before. Maybe he needed to check himself.

"Sorry, Cas," he said. "Forget I said anything."

"I guess Angels really can work miracles," Sam said, still grinning.

"Are you two going to play?" Cas asked the brothers.

They looked at each other. Why not?

"I play at the high-stakes table," Cas continued. "You don't have to play there if you don't want to."

Dean thought about that. He had always wanted to try it, but he and Sam had never had that kind of money before. Now, they did.

"No, let's do it," Dean said, and Sam shrugged. He guessed it might be kind of fun to play big for an hour or so, as long as they didn't lose too much.

Gail and Barry sat at a corner table in the coffee shop, and she had her hand on top of his.

"It was the worst fight we've ever had, Gail," he said miserably. "He just won't believe. Tommy's so cynical now, about everything. When he came back from his trip, I told him that Cas was back, and that you were doing a special project for Heaven, and he laughed in my face. Called me delusional. So we fought about it, and he didn't bother to unpack."

Gail was startled. "What do you mean?" she said.

"I mean, he moved out, and he won't even talk to me now," Barry said sadly.

Gail's heart sank. "Barry, no," she said softly.

"Yeah," he confirmed. "I've e-mailed him, I've left him messages...I don't know what else to do. I think he wants to believe, Gail, but I think he's just seen so much bad stuff in his job that he finds it hard to have faith."

Gail frowned. Tommy was an investigative reporter; she supposed he would have seen a lot of the bad side of life as a result. But he had to realize there was a lot of good, too. Now that the new laws had been passed in Heaven, Gail thought that she would talk to Bobby about a new project. Maybe they could use someone like Tommy as their inspiration. How could they try to balance out some of the bad? She would have to ask Cas.

Which led her to another thought: she should tell Cas about Barry and Tommy. She didn't want Cas accidentally saying something that would make Barry feel even worse.

"Let's go see how the guys are doing," she said.

As they approached the high limit table, Gail was surprised to see Sam and Dean playing there. Cas had his usual racks of chips by him, but it looked like the brothers' chips were already dwindling.

"What's going on here?" Gail asked, amused. "Is Cas taking all your money?"

"I don't know how he does it," Dean groaned. "I had four of a kind, and he managed to beat me, anyway."

"Somebody upstairs must really like him," one of the other men at the table grumbled. He had lost thousands to Cas this past summer.

Sam and Dean looked at each other, then they looked at Cas. "I used to think the guy upstairs liked us, too," Sam quipped.

"Why don't we see if he likes me?" Gail said. What the hell; it was her holiday, too. "Can I sit in for one hand, Barry?"

"Sure," he said, and Gail sat down beside Cas. She grabbed one of his racks of chips for herself and said, "Ready."

"No fair," Dean said to her. "How come you can just walk in here and grab his money?"

"I'm special, that's how come," she retorted. "You just shut up and worry about your own little pile there. I'll be coming for it now." Gail smiled, just to show that she was only teasing. Well, mainly.

"Don't worry, Dean, she's got to be the worst bluffer in the world," Sam said, sitting back in his chair and looking at Gail.

"Yeah? We'll see about that," Gail shot back, as the cards were being dealt.

Cas was enjoying this. He smiled warmly at Gail. He could hardly wait to take her to the party tonight and show her off to all his friends. And he really needed to talk to her alone again at some point. She said that she had forgiven him, but they'd hardly had a chance to even talk about that. Did that mean that she was ready to come back to him?

Gail saw Cas looking at her. "I'm coming for your chips too, mister," she teased him.

"You can have them all," he said. "Anything you need." If you'll just come back to me, he thought.

"Well, now you're just taking the competition right out of it," Sam grinned.

So they played one hand, and Dean won it. Gail groaned. He was going to be insufferable now. She had to stay in for another hand.

The next hand was action-packed. There was a mound of chips on the table, but eventually, everyone but the four of them had dropped out. Now it was their own little private game, and even though it didn't really matter which of them won, Gail wanted it to be her, just on general principles.

Cas looked at Dean. "Your move, Dean," he said, sitting back in his chair.

Dean frowned. Why had he ever thought he could play poker with Cas? The guy was totally unreadable when he got like this. He sighed. "All in." He pushed the remainder of his chips into the pile.

Gail was smiling. There was an awful lot of money in the pot, but either she or one of her guys was going to end up with it, so she wasn't scared. "What the hell, you only live once," she quipped, and pushed her chips in, too.

Then Gail looked at Sam, whose face was impassive. He had always been better than Dean at hiding his true feelings. "Sam?" Gail said. "Am I going to take all your money, too?" He smirked, then pushed his chips in. "You can try," Sam said.

Sam looked at Cas. "What do you say? Want to make it unanimous?"

Cas considered. Why not? His chips had dwindled a bit, too. He didn't have his usual focus today; he'd been thinking about the party tonight, and looking forward to his date with Gail. They could have a fresh start now. He would be patient, gentle, and kind. She could do whatever she wanted to do, and he would encourage her independence now. He'd thought about what she had said after the funeral, and she was right; neither of them could be everything to the other, or should be. He had suffocated her.

"Yes," Cas said, and he tipped his chips into the middle of the table.

Then the last card was dealt, and Cas shook his head. "No help there," he said. He could drop his poker face now; there was no more betting to be done, and after all, he was playing with his family.

"What have you got?" Dean asked him.

Cas smiled. "Nothing."

"Nothing? What do you mean, nothing?" Dean asked him incredulously.

Cas turned over his cards. "Nothing," he repeated, still smiling. "I was fishing. You'd be surprised how often that works."

"He was fishing," Dean said sarcastically. "My life's savings are in that pile, and he's fishing."

Gail was grinning now. "Don't be so melodramatic, Dean," she said. "What have YOU got?"

"Three Kings," Dean said with a tight smile. "Ace kicker." He nodded down at the table. Dean had been holding two Kings, and there was a King and an Ace on the flop. He had been hoping for more, but what the hell.

"Is that all?" Sam said scornfully.

"Well, what have YOU got?" Dean asked Sam.

"Never mind me, what's Gail got?" Sam said, and the brothers looked at her. "Yeah, Gail, what have you got?" Dean asked her.

Even though this was a friendly game, Gail's heart was beating fast now. She really wanted to win this hand, although she couldn't really say why. Maybe it was because she was the only female. Or maybe just to wipe that smug smile off of Dean's face.

"You go first, Sam," Gail said coolly.

Cas looked sideways at her. He knew that there was no way she was bluffing, but he was very curious now to see what both she and Sam had, and who would prevail. "Let Gail go last, Sam," Cas entreated his friend.

Sam rolled his eyes. OK. He would let Gail have her big reveal. Now that Sam had seen what the other two men had, he was 99 percent sure that Gail had taken it.

"Two pair," Sam said, turning his cards over. Damn. Now he really hoped that Gail had Dean. His brother was going to be impossible to live with if he took all of them for this much money. Dean was already smirking in anticipation.

Cas looked at Sam curiously. Sam had stayed in a long time with such a weak hand. But then, just look at Cas himself. Cas hadn't been playing to win, though; he'd just been having fun with his friends. He was so glad that they were here with him.

Gail was floored. She'd thought that Sam had it, just from the way he'd been acting. She really had. He was almost as inscrutable as Cas was when he wanted to be. She started to smile. "Sorry, Dean," she said. "Three Aces."

Dean was shocked. He'd known that Gail had to have something, or she wouldn't have stayed in so long. But when she turned over the two Aces she'd been sitting on, he had to give her full credit. She hadn't given anything away. Must be the Angel thing, or maybe she had just been hanging around Cas for too long.

"Damn it!" he fumed.

"You know what, Dean?" Gail said cheerfully, rising from her chair. "Come to think of it, I'm not sorry at all. In fact, I feel an 'in your face' dance coming on." She started to do a little dance, and Cas smiled as he stood up and said, "Well, I think we can all agree that the best person won this hand."

Sam and Dean stood, too. Dean sighed. "Okay, Gail. You got me. Here, I'll even help you cash out."

They all started to rack up her chips, and it took the four of them to bring all of them to the cashier.

"This kind of reminds me of Vegas," Sam said, grinning, "except that nobody got punched out this time."

"Day's not over yet," Dean grumbled, but he smiled too, remembering that day.

Gail stood excitedly at the cash cage, waiting for the chips to be counted. "I may buy a new car," she said to the men. "What do you think, Dean?"

"You don't drive," he pointed out.

Then the money was being counted out in her hand. Sixteen thousand dollars! Gail held the wad of bills numbly in her hand. "Anybody got a cell phone?" she said. "I wouldn't mind getting a picture of me holding this much money, just for a moment."

"I have my phone," Cas said, trying not to smile at Gail's victory too widely, for Dean's sake.

"Ahh, never mind," Gail said, shrugging. She'd had her fun, but she didn't want to overdo it. "Here," she said. She divided the money and gave about two-thirds of it to Cas, then she split up the remainder and handed one part to Sam, and the other part to Dean.

"Why are you giving it to us?" Sam asked her.

"Hey, I don't eat and I don't drink," she said to him. "What am I going to do with it? Use some of that to impress those girls you met today," she added, smiling.

"Why does HE get more?" Dean asked her, nodding to Cas.

Gail gave him a look. "Really, Dean?"

"Because I'm special," Cas quipped, echoing what Gail had said earlier.

Gail laughed. Yes, he certainly was. "I think the word you're searching for is 'thanks'," she said, elbowing Dean. "Admit it, I beat you, straight up. I didn't have to give you anything, you know. I could have given it all to Cas."

"Yes, you did," he retorted. "Isn't giving to others in your job description?"

"I don't know, I'll have to ask our mutual friend Bobby about that," she teased. "'Smite be he'll have a problem with your attitude."

Dean gave up. He didn't really care, of course. He'd only been giving her a hard time. But he did have an idea as to how they could spend some of the money that Gail had given them.

"I think we'll be going now, Barry," Cas told their friend. "We have a big event tonight. We'll have to get together with you and Tommy another time."

"Just a minute," Gail said. "Hold on a second, you guys." She grabbed Cas's arm and pulled him over to the side. She told him about Barry and Tommy's apparent breakup, and his face fell.

"I'll have to apologize to him," Cas told her. "I had no idea."

"What really bothers me is the reason Tommy moved out, though," she said to him.

"Yes, that bothers me, too," Cas responded. "I wonder if we shouldn't try to do something about that."

"Like what?" she asked.

Cas thought about it for a moment. "I think I have an idea," he said. He whispered something in her ear, and Gail nodded. "Hey, it's worth a shot," she said, smiling.

They walked back over to join the men. "Hey, handsome," Gail said to Barry, putting her hand on his arm. "How would you like to be my date for a party tonight?"

Sam and Dean exchanged glances. Cas and Gail weren't fighting again, were they? They didn't look like they were. But why would she be asking Barry to take her to the party, then?

Barry looked at Cas. "Why aren't you taking her?" he asked suspiciously.

"I have my reasons," Cas replied evasively.

"Never mind him," Gail said to Barry, smiling. "Are you taking me, or not?"

Barry shrugged. "Why not?" he said. "I could use a distraction."

"Did you hear that?" Gail said to Cas teasingly. "I'm a distraction."

"You certainly are," he smiled.

Gail gave Barry the name of the hotel where she and the Winchesters were staying, and he told her that he would go home and change, then meet her over there. "Cas tips so generously that I was able to buy a new car a couple of weeks ago," he said, grinning. "I'll pick you up in style."

Sam shook his head. Like Dean, he was still trying to get used to this particular variation of Cas. An Angel playing high-stakes poker was weird enough, let alone one who was working on a TV show. But Cas generally seemed happier and a lot more relaxed here, and ever since Sam had decided to put his own resentment towards Demon Cas aside, Sam found that he liked Cas better now. Gail had made her choice nearly two years ago, and Sam had no right to expect that she would feel otherwise. It was time for Sam to move on.

Cas kissed Gail on her cheek. "I'll see you at the party." He pointed to Barry. "And you, keep your hands to yourself." They laughed, and so did Gail.

"I'm not making any promises," Barry teased.

Sam and Dean exchanged another glance. Wow. Just the fact that the two of them could joke like this now spoke volumes. And tonight should be fun. The girls they had met today had been pretty cute. Their holiday was off to a promising start.

Gail and Barry had just left the hotel bar to go to the party, and Dean was waiting for the bill to come. He and Sam and Barry had had a couple of drinks and gotten better acquainted, and Dean had to admit that he really liked Barry. Cas was right; Dean had been closed-minded.

"You can pay for Barry'd drinks with your ill-gotten gains," Gail had teased Dean. "But he's cut off now; he has to drive me to the party. Actually, shouldn't you be cut off, too? Aren't you driving?" she had asked Dean.

"We made alternate arrangements," Sam told her. "We'll see you in a bit."

Gail shrugged. "Okie-dokie," she said to them. They were probably taking a cab, or something. It was just as well, because they were obviously going to be drinking.

Cas called Dean on his cell phone just as Dean and Sam were getting up to leave.

"Are you ready to go?" Cas asked Dean.

"Yeah, we were just about to grab a cab," Dean told him. "I feel like getting my drink on tonight."

"No need to do that," Cas said. "Come out front. I'm here to pick you up."

Sam and Dean grinned. Even better. An Angel as a designated driver.

They walked out of the front door of the hotel just in time to see Cas step out of a black stretch limousine.

"No way," Dean said, prompting Cas to smile.

"Way," Cas deadpanned. "I wanted us to arrive at the party in style."

Yeah. Dean was sure Cas was doing this for him and Sam. If Gail didn't end up getting a ride in this limo before the night was over, Dean would swear off drinking.

And Cas had another surprise for them, one that he was very interested in observing Dean's reaction to. When Sam and Dean got in the back seat of the limousine, they were sitting across from not only Cas, but a man they had never seen before.

"Dean, Sam, this is Tommy," Cas introduced them. The men shook hands, and the brothers looked inquiringly at Cas.

"Tommy's my date to the party," Cas explained cheerfully.

Sam and Dean looked at each other, then they looked at Cas, then they looked at Tommy again.

Tommy was grinning. "I wish," he said. "But I am his 'plus one'. Thanks a lot for inviting me, Cas. Maybe I can talk to a few people who work on the show, get some stories there. Things are kind of slow at the paper right now."

"Tommy's an investigative reporter," Cas told the Winchesters.

"Really?" Sam said incredulously. "You must have lots of fascinating stories."

Tommy frowned. "Not at the moment. "Yeah, I've covered some pretty interesting stuff in the past, but not lately. Mainly human interest stuff. I don't suppose you guys know of anything interesting locally I can write about?"

As the brothers smirked at each other, Cas said, "They're visiting me from out of town. I just got special permission to bring them to the party."

"Any beer in there?" Dean asked, pointing to the bar area in the back. He had never ridden in a real limo before, but he'd seen enough of them in the movies.

Cas reached into the bar and handed Dean, Sam, and Tommy each a beer. Tommy looked at Cas questioningly. "You know Angels don't drink, Tommy," Cas said softly. Tommy looked startled. "It's OK, Sam and Dean know," Cas told Tommy. "But they're the only ones."

Tommy continued to look at Cas. He and Barry had had a giant fight about Barry's continued faith in Cas and Gail as Angels, and Tommy had moved out over it. But Cas had showed up at the newspaper office earlier this afternoon and after the conversation they'd had and the power that Cas had demonstrated to him, Tommy had had to eat his words. He'd apologized to Cas, and Tommy supposed he'd better screw up the courage to call Barry and apologize to him, too. But Cas had said that Tommy could make it up to him by accompanying him to the party tonight, so Tommy had agreed. It might be fun, and he liked Cas. And who knew what kind of contacts he could meet? Contacts were very important in his business.

"So you guys know about Angels?" Tommy asked Dean and Sam. It had not escaped Tommy's notice that Cas's friends were also extremely good-looking. He wondered if Sam and Dean were a couple. Cas hadn't really said anything about their status.

"Yeah, far too much, sometimes," Dean grumbled good-naturedly.

Sam smiled, not only at Dean's response to the question, but because he thought he'd figured out what was going on here. Gail had asked Barry to the party, and Cas was bringing this guy Tommy, who was joking about wishing Cas was his date. It didn't take a genius.

Sure enough, when Cas and Tommy approached the table where Gail and Barry were already seated, Barry's jaw dropped. "Tommy?"

"I think the two of you might have a lot to talk about," Cas said. He pulled out the chair next to Barry and said, "Have a seat, Tommy. I'm going to steal Gail and introduce her to some of my co-workers." Then he turned to Sam and Dean. "Maybe you two want to go over to the bar and get a drink." He smiled. "I'm pretty sure the ladies will find you."

Dean did a double-take. Who was Cas, Chuck, all of a sudden? Dean had been thinking about Nicole off and on ever since he'd met her earlier today. "'Later," he said to Cas and Gail. "Come on, Sammy."

Gail stood from her chair, looking at Barry and Tommy. "Nice to see you, Tommy," she said. He waved absently at her. He and Barry were staring into each other's eyes. She smiled at Cas. "Well, so much for my hot date," she quipped.

"Will I do as a substitute?" Cas asked her, extending his hand to hers.

Gail manufactured a heavy sigh. "I guess so," she said teasingly.

They started to make the rounds, and Cas eventually introduced Gail to almost all of the cast members. As they stood talking to Syd, Richard approached them.

"Gail! How are you?" Richard asked her. "Do you remember me?"

She did. He had been very kind to her and Cas when they had initially spoken to him about possibly getting her a job on the set when they had first been here, on the run from the tribunal. And Richard had re-hired Cas recently, even though Cas had run out on the show when they'd had to return to Heaven to stand the tribunal.

"Yes, of course I remember you," Gail told Richard. "Thank you for hiring Cas back. I know he's really enjoying working for you."

"Well, we've loved having him back," Richard said heartily. "I was very glad to be able to help the both of you out, considering all that you've been through. And I've got to say, I'm glad to see you well, Gail, and to see the both of you here together."

Cas squeezed Gail's hand. "So am I, Richard," he said. "So am I."

"I have some schmoozing to do," Richard told them. "Maybe I'll see you later." Then he walked off, and Syd stared after him. "That guy is hands down the best boss I've ever had," Syd said, shaking his head slowly. "He's, like, a saint or something."

Gail and Cas smiled at each other. "He could be, one day," Cas said softly.

But the room was noisy, and Syd wasn't really paying attention. "I'm getting a drink," he said. "'Later, Cas." Then he walked off.

Gail was bemused. She'd met all kinds of people tonight, of different ages, races, and sexual orientations. What a diverse group. If you looked up "inclusion" in the dictionary, this show would be a shining example of the definition of the word. What a great place for an Angel who had helped to write modern laws for Heaven to work.

Gail looked over at the table where Barry and Tommy sat, deep in discussion, by the looks of it. She nudged Cas, nodding her head towards the couple. "That was a great idea you had," she told him.

"I had the feeling that if we got them together in the same place, they would be able to work it out," he said to her. "That's the way it's supposed to work with people in love, isn't it?"

"I guess you're right," Gail agreed, nodding. And suddenly, she just wanted to be alone with Cas, to talk to him, the way Barry and Tommy were talking now. She put her hand on Cas's arm. "Would you mind if we go somewhere quieter, so we can have a conversation?" she asked him.

Cas was pleased by her suggestion. He had been wanting to talk to her alone ever since this morning, when they had been interrupted in the wardrobe trailer. "Let's just let Sam and Dean know we're leaving, then," he said.

They found the brothers sitting at a table with Nicole and Zoey. Sam and Zoey were talking with their heads close together, and Dean was talking to Nicole, his arm draped around the chair she was sitting in.

Gail smiled. Sam and Dean certainly worked quickly. But she was glad to see it. This was the first time since she'd met them that they'd been able to enjoy some female company without her and her problems occupying their time 24/7, and it did her heart good.

"Dean, Sam," Cas said loudly, over the noise in the room. They looked up. "Gail and I are leaving the party now. I'll see you tomorrow."

Dean was disappointed. There went their limo ride home. He had been hoping to impress Nicole. He guessed that he and Sammy would have to take a cab back to the hotel, unless one of the girls was sober enough to drive. He sure as hell wasn't, and he highly doubted that Sam was, either.

"You can have the limousine," Cas continued. "Gail and I won't need it, of course." He smiled at Dean. Dean almost kicked himself. Of course they wouldn't need it; they could just pop themselves back to Cas's apartment. If Cas really felt the need to impress Gail after all this time, he could probably take her for a ride on Hailey's Comet, or something. And then, if and when Gail decided to return to her hotel room, she could just pop herself back. Dean kind of hoped she wouldn't, though. Maybe enough time had passed, and maybe she would decide to spend the night with Cas. Dean hoped that this was the beginning of the end for Cas and Gail, or maybe the end of the beginning. Hopefully, both of them would be smiling when he saw them tomorrow.

Sam grinned. "Thanks, Cas."

"'Night, guys," Gail said, but the brothers had already turned back to their dates. She shrugged, smiling. Good for them.

She and Cas sat down on his couch after he took his suit jacket and tie off. He hung them on one of the dining room chairs.

"I hope you don't mind that we left the party so early," Gail said to him. "If I was a human, I'd have been drinking and dancing, too. But I really just wanted to talk to you."

"Of course I don't mind," Cas said mildly. "I would much prefer talking to you than engaging in any other activity, anyway." Then he smiled. "Well, I would enjoy it the same as engaging in any in any activity with you, to be honest."

Gail smiled back. "It was brilliant of you to bring Tommy to the party and get him and Barry talking. Did you finally manage to convince Tommy that we're for real?"

"Yes, I did," Cas confirmed. "Strictly speaking, we're not really supposed to do what I had to do to convince him, but I think my transgression was for a good cause."

"What did you do?" she asked him curiously.

"I asked him the one place on Earth he'd like to go, and he said Paris, France. So I brought him there, and then I brought him back here," Castiel said, his lips twitching.

"Yeah, that would do it," Gail said, amused.

"It did," Cas agreed. "And then I asked him to be my 'plus one' at the party, hoping that he would use the opportunity to talk to Barry and to reconcile, if that's what they both want."

"I'm sure Barry does," Gail responded. "He seemed pretty miserable."

"Do you?" Cas said suddenly.

"Do I what?" Gail asked innocently. But she knew what he was talking about, of course. Did she?

"I'm so thankful for your forgiveness," Cas said, "and I don't want to push. But I miss you so much."

Gail sighed. Who did she think she was kidding? "I miss you too, Cas."

He scooped up her hands in his. "Do you think..." He stopped himself, considering what to say next. He wanted to put this the right way.

Gail waited patiently, but Cas seemed stuck now, so she prompted him. "Do I think...?" she said to him. Then she squeezed his hands for encouragement.

Cas smiled. "Do you think that you might want to test out the new laws?" he asked her softly.

She started to smile. "Since when have we ever worried about those?" she teased. "But I thought that we came here to talk."

Cas's smile faded a bit. She was right; he was pushing. But he had just missed her so much. Of course he wanted to talk to her, but right now he really wanted to touch her, and he really wanted her to touch him.

Gail thought about it. Again, who was she kidding? She'd been thinking about little else ever since she had decided to forgive him. "Ahh, talking is overrated, anyway," she said, and she moved closer to him.

Cas put his arms around her waist and kissed her. Then their tongues came together, and he started to touch her through her clothing.

"Would you like to go to the bedroom?" Cas asked her.

"Sure. I could use a cuddle," Gail said mischievously.

"Please don't tease right now, Gail," he said in a serious voice. "I want to be sure that I'm not pushing you." His eyes searched hers. "I need you to be sure."

She hesitated for a moment. He was right; she should take this seriously. It was a pretty big deal now. It would be their first time as Angels, and it would signify to him that she was ready to get back together. Cas was not a one-night-stand type of guy.

Gail nodded. "I'm sure, Cas."

He smiled, and they rose from the couch together. He took her hand and they walked into the bedroom, where Cas turned on the bedside lamp. Gail saw her photo leaned up against it.

He turned her around to look at him. "I look at it every day, and every night," he told her. "Many days, especially early on, it was the only thing that kept me going." He smiled again. "Thank you for letting me keep it."

Gail came to him and put her arms around his neck. "I love you, Cas."

His heart swelled. "I love you, Gail. I never stopped loving you, and I never will." He kissed her again, and his hand moved to the zipper on the back of her dress. He slid it down slowly, and she stepped out of it.

Cas laid her gently down on the bed, and he took his shirt off. She wore underwear now, he noted, as did he. But that only made this more exciting. It had been so long since they'd been together like this, and he wanted to try to take his time and appreciate the fact that they actually were together like this. He felt such joy that she had forgiven him, and that she was ready to resume their relationship, but he also needed to go slow, and to make sure that she was comfortable.

He started to kiss her neck and her shoulders, then eased her bra straps down off her shoulders. Gail was stroking his hair, smiling. He had her bra off now, and he was kissing and licking her torso. How good it was to him to see her skin without one painful mark on it. He felt the familiar stab of guilt when he thought about that, but he shouldn't be thinking about it right now, although he meant never to forget. They could talk about that later, if she wanted to. They would talk about anything she wanted to talk about.

He kissed her stomach, and then he eased her underpants down from her hips. Now he was trembling. They were about to make love, as full Angels. He had never believed this day would actually come.

Cas moved his body up and kissed her on the mouth, gently caressing her skin. "You're so beautiful," he told her.

"So are you," she said, touching his face with both hands. She reached down to undo the zipper of his pants, but he put his hand on hers.

"No," he said. "Not yet."

Then he moved his body down again and gently opened her legs. The second his tongue touched her, Gail's body jumped. He took her hands in his and squeezed them for a moment. He knew from prior experience that she was all right when she did that, but he'd wanted to calm her anyway, and calm himself at the same time. He was very excited now.

Cas used his tongue on her, while still holding her hands. She was squeezing his hands tightly now, but he didn't mind. He wanted to maintain their connection. She was raising her hips up to meet his tongue, and she began to cry out. Then he let go of her hands and gently pulled her body down, speeding up the motion of his tongue.

"Cas!" she exclaimed. He was amazing. He was making her feel fantastic. "I love you so much!" She was shaking her head from side to side now. It was so good. Then she was still, but he stayed right where he was, kissing and licking her. He nuzzled her thighs. He'd made sure to shave very close before getting dressed for the party, as he always did now. He had been hoping this opportunity would arise, and he wanted to be sure he did not scratch her with any stubble. She would never again suffer another mark from him, regardless of the kind.

Then he began to lick her again, and again she cried out. He smiled. It felt so good to him to be able to make her this happy once again. And this was the right way to do it; gently, but with passion.

He rose from her and took off his pants and underwear, and he eased into her slowly. She felt incredible to him. She was looking at him and smiling, and she was caressing his body. "It's OK, Cas," she said. Gail knew that he was being tentative, and she knew why. "Really," she added.

He brought her face up to him so that he could kiss her. When she gave him her tongue, he couldn't help but speed up his motion. "Are you all right?" he asked her.

"I'm wonderful," she assured him. "Please go faster, Cas. It's OK."

Now he did go faster. He couldn't help it; it felt so good. He had been wondering if it would feel this good when they were full Angels again, and now he had his answer. This was the best yet, because it was all about the love they had between them.

"I love you," he told her, smiling.

"I love you too, Cas," she responded.

Then he kissed her again, and he felt the warm rush as he pushed into her once more. She was kissing and licking his ear, and he moaned softly.

Cas touched her face. "That was wonderful," he told her.

"I agree," Gail said, smiling. "And I might add, perfectly legal."

Cas rolled his eyes comically and quipped, "Who cares?"

Gail laughed. That was true enough; she wouldn't have cared, either. But they had done it now, and it had been amazing. She had been wondering how it might be, not only due to their status as Angels, but also because she'd known that Cas would be tentative, and for obvious reasons. She would have to let him know that it was all right to be a little bit more aggressive.

Cas rolled off of her and lay on his back, pulling her to him. He was trying to catch his breath, but he wanted to maintain the connection with her. He cuddled her, and she kissed him softly on the cheek.

"I guess I'll have to tell Richard I'm resigning again," Cas said. He kissed her on the forehead. "Unless you'd rather live here, of course."

"No, don't do that," Gail said. "I think you should finish out the season. You quit on him before, remember? Unless Bobby has a problem with it, I think you should stay here."

"So you'll move in here, then?" he asked her.

"Who said I'm moving anywhere?" she said lightly. "Aren't you making assumptions, Cas?"

Cas was alarmed. "Are you saying you don't want to be with me, Gail?"

Gail sighed. "No, I'm not saying that, Cas. But it would be nice to be asked."

Of course. He should have asked her, first. "I'm sorry, Gail. You're right," he said, frowning at his mistake. "I promised that I will never take you for granted again. I realize how lucky I am that you have forgiven me."

He looked distressed now, and Gail was sorry about that. But she'd had a point to make, and he'd said what she had wanted to hear. So she let him off the hook.

"Now that the new laws have been enacted, I don't see any reason why I have to stay at the bunker anymore," Gail told him. "I'll move here till you finish out the season, and then we can get a place back home."

Cas's face lit up. "Do you mean it?" he asked her.

"Yes, I mean it, Cas." She kissed him on the cheek again. "I'll tell the guys in the morning that I'm moving out."

He kissed her on the mouth. "I'm so glad, Gail. And I'm very thankful. We'll be very happy together again, I promise," Cas said to her. "I'll see to it."

Gail smiled. "And how are you going to do that?"

"By loving you with everything that I have," he replied in a serious tone. "And by trying to love myself, too. If you will promise me that you will do the same."

Gail nodded. That had been a big problem for the both of them before. But it seemed to her that they had both grown as individuals during their separation. And if they were better individually, it only stood to reason that they would be better together. She told him this now.

"I think so, too," he said. "But what do you intend to do while I'm working? Or, do you want to see if we can get you a job on the show? I have the feeling that Richard would be only too happy to help us, if he can."

She considered this for a moment. Until she figured out what her next project might be in Heaven, that might be kind of a fun distraction. "OK, let's talk to him about that, then," Gail said.

Cas wrapped his arms around her. He couldn't believe it. After all those months of missing her so desperately, now they were going to be living together again, and possibly working together, as well. He had had to learn some hard lessons, but they had been necessary ones, and now their Father had finally rewarded him.

Gail was caressing him now, and he could feel his excitement start to build again. "Will you stay here with me tonight?" he asked her. A silly question perhaps, considering the circumstances they found themselves in now, but he'd promised her he would never take anything for granted again.

She smiled, recognizing the reason for his question. "Yes, I will, Cas," she replied formally. "I'll check out of the hotel in the morning," she added.

"I'll help you bring your things over here, and we can pop over to the bunker when I'm not working, and get the rest of your belongings," he said.

"Sounds good to me," Gail said. Her hand slipped down his body, and his breath caught as she touched him. "Now, what do you say we have a little housewarming party?" Gail teased.

"Please, come here," he gestured, and she positioned herself by his mouth and took him in hers. They moved together, pleasuring each other until they both cried out, which made the experience even more intense. Then they sped up what they each were doing, until they were both spent.

After a moment, Gail climbed off his body and lay beside him. He kissed her, again and again. Now that she was coming back, he would never stop doing that. He loved what they had just done, but he loved kissing her, too, and kissing was something they could do in public, any time they wished.

"Want to watch some TV and cuddle?" Gail asked him in-between kisses. "We haven't done that in a long time."

"I'd like that," Cas said, still kissing her. "And we will, in just a minute." He smiled, and continued to kiss her.

Gail gave up. She didn't mind what they were doing now, either. As far as she was concerned, they could do it all night. They had an awful lot of lost time to make up for.

Sam and Zoey were in bed too, and she was running her hand over his chest. "That was really good, Sam," she said.

He smiled. Yeah, it had been. It had been way too long for him, and Zoey had been the aggressor, so he hadn't felt like he was taking advantage of her. She had invited him back to her place for a coffee, and then she had started to kiss him, and hey, he was only human. She had been an enthusiastic partner in bed, and she was the one who had taken the lead. At one point when he'd been on top of her, Sam had closed his eyes and imagined that she was Gail. But only for a moment, and then he had made himself stop. That particular ship had sailed off into the sunset, and it had been Cas on that ship, not him.

"Will I see you again before you leave town?" Zoey asked him. She did like Sam, and she would really enjoy another session like the one they'd just had, but Zoey was a realist. Sam would be going back home to the States at the end of this week, and Zoey was young, and she had her own life to live. Still, Sam was muscular and good-looking, and he had been very good in bed, once she'd gotten him going.

"I don't see why not," Sam told her. "I'll give you a call once we know what our plans are."

"OK," she said. She kissed him once more, and then rolled over. "See you, Sam. Just close the door behind you; it locks itself."

Sam was bemused. He'd been dismissed, apparently. But he didn't really mind. Even though they had just had sex, he and Zoey didn't know each other all that well, really. Maybe she was happier sleeping alone.

He pulled on his clothes and leaned down to kiss her on the cheek. Zoey didn't react; she was already asleep. Sam grinned. Not exactly a clingy girl. Maybe Dean should have been the one to hook up with this one.

He let himself out of Zoey's apartment and started to walk back to the hotel. He and Dean had played Rock, Paper, Scissors to decide which one of them got the limo, and of course, Dean had won. But the hotel wasn't far from Zoey's place, and Sam didn't really mind getting some fresh air and exercise.

He wondered how Dean was doing with Nicole. Hopefully, as well as Sam had done with Zoey. It had been quite a while for Dean, too. Maybe he'd be less grumpy tomorrow if his night went well tonight.

Nicole was driving Dean nuts. They'd been riding around in the limo for a while now, having a few drinks and getting better acquainted. Nicole was funny and intelligent, and she had lots of interesting stories about working behind the scenes on a successful TV show. Dean smiled inwardly at the absurdity of it all. He could have told her lots of stories too, but he didn't dare. So he had taken a page out of Cas's book and been evasive and noncommittal in his answers to her questions about what he did for a living.

Finally, Dean made his move. He put their drinks down on the bar and kissed Nicole, and she responded, winding her arms around his neck. Dean opened her mouth with his tongue, and Nicole gave him hers. His hands tightened around her waist as he continued to kiss her. But when Dean tried to slip his hands under her top, Nicole pulled away. "Whoa," she said. "Not so fast."

Dean looked at the blacked-out glass partition which separated them from the driver. "He can't see us," he told her, misunderstanding Nicole's resistance.

"It's not that," Nicole said to him. "I just don't know if I'm prepared to go any further with a guy I just met. And one that I know so little about." It hadn't escaped her notice that Dean had evaded most of the questions she had asked him about himself. She didn't even know what he did for a living.

"What do you want to know?" Dean asked her. He understood what she was saying, and he actually respected her for it. But how could he honestly answer the questions she had been asking?

"What do you do for a living?" Nicole asked him.

Dean gave her a half-shrug. "Family business," he said vaguely. "Sam, too."

That, right there, Nicole thought. He was doing it again. "Doing what, exactly?" Nicole persisted.

And that, in a nutshell, was why Dean didn't date much. How on earth was he supposed to answer that? "It's made us millionaires," he said hopefully.

Nicole was annoyed. "Look, Dean, I don't give a damn about how much money you have. I just want to know who you are."

Dean sighed. "I'm an ordinary guy, with a not-so-ordinary life. I just try to do everything I can to keep people safe. And that's all I can tell you about it."

Nicole frowned. Who did this guy think he was, James Bond, or something? "I knew that Cas was mysterious, but I didn't know his friends were, too. Between Cas, you and your brother, and Gail, the things we know about all four of you combined I can count on one hand. It's like you're all from a different planet." She put her hand on his arm. "Wait; are you?" she joked. "Are you guys aliens?"

Dean smirked. Aliens. Yeah, those were about the only things he hadn't encountered. At least, not yet, anyway. But he was in the back of a limo with a girl who worked on a fictional TV show that was based on the books an Angel had written about his and Sam's very real lives. At this point, he wasn't going to rule anything out. "No, we're all American citizens. So, yeah, I guess we are aliens here in Canada," he quipped. "Hey, speaking of which, what's up with your money? All those rainbow colours, and loonies? Moonies? Whatever they're called?"

Nicole sighed. This guy was hot, and he was funny, but it was weird how none of them ever talked about themselves and then managed to turn the conversation back around. Cas did that same kind of thing all the time. Nicole had worked in close proximity with Cas for quite a while now, and she still knew nothing about him except that he was from the States and had a long-distance relationship with a woman who he was crazy about. And that was it. So now, his friends had come all this way to visit him, and not only did the three men have the same names as the characters on the show, they all bore more than a passing resemblance to the actors who happened to play those characters. Was she in a parallel universe here?

In a way, she was. The moment that Gail had said she had forgiven Castiel, the reset had been put into motion. And when the Angels had made love and Gail said that she would return to Cas, God breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed that the couple's reunion had accomplished what God Himself had not been able to, all this time.

Everything was back to normal, it seemed, and everyone was now happy, and doing what they were supposed to be doing. Well, except for the idea of two of God's best Angels working on a TV show. But He didn't mind that too much. Castiel should finish out the season; honouring commitments was very important.

But even now there was another threat looming on the horizon, and the Angels would have to be pressed into service to help meet the challenge. God hoped that their renewed bond would be able to hold strong against this most terrifying of enemies. God had peered into Bobby's office in Heaven out of curiosity, and He had seen Bobby holding the Hotline telephone. And the reigning God did not look happy.

Before he had picked up the Hotline to place the call that had made Bobby so unhappy, Crowley had been sitting in his own office, debating whether or not to make the call. He had assumed that everything would have returned to status quo by now. The Angels would be cured, Moose and Squirrel would return to eradicating monsters, and Heaven and Hell could return to business as usual, as separate and distinct sovereign entities.

The only thing that had bothered him recently was the clause in Heaven's rewritten laws regarding suicides. He stood to lose a number of souls if Heaven's panel was too compassionate, or too lenient. And yes, Crowley knew all about the details. Gail had told him. But there had been nothing that Crowley could do about it. Those were Heaven's laws, not his, and he had no say in what went on there. And he hadn't even bothered to try to persuade Gail to remove that clause, or soften it to his favour. She had changed during her separation from his Brother, and while she still had the doe eyes, even they were different, somehow. When she looked at him now, he no longer saw hatred or fear in her eyes. Gail seemed to regard him almost as an equal now, or a peer, at least. And she didn't appear to be the slightest bit intimidated by him. He guessed that her dark time with Castiel had ultimately done her a favour. When she had pushed his Brother back for the final time, she had pushed him so hard that he was now in another country, Crowley thought with amusement. Word had it that even though they were both completely cured, they were still not together. Crowley was, somewhat illogically, pleased by this fact. He'd known, realistically, that he himself would never have had a chance to be with Gail, not in that way. Even when she had been at her most Demonlike and influenced by their blood bond, she would never have succumbed to him. And even when he had taken the drastic step of kidnapping her and modifying her memory to think only ill of Castiel, she had still resisted him. So Crowley had now resigned himself to the fact that they could perhaps have a cordial friendship at best, but that would be all.

But he did still want to maintain that relationship, if possible. Crowley had not yet heard from Rowena, and he hadn't been able to locate her, as hard as he had tried. She must have whipped up some enchantments that were shielding her from his view. But it was a little puzzling. Yes, he and his mother couldn't stand each other, but he was surprised that she wasn't here trying to cause him trouble, at the very least. It had been all quiet on that score, but he knew that it wouldn't last indefinitely, and Gail had promised Crowley that she would help him take care of that little issue.

However, Crowley had even bigger problems at the moment. Much, much bigger ones. A day or so ago, Crowley's assistant Charles had knocked on his office door to tell him that a coup of Hell was being planned.

Crowley had frowned. "A coup?" he had repeated. "And which unfortunate idiot would be behind that idea?"

"It's a small group, led by the former Angels," Charles had replied, the disgust showing on his face. "But they're recruiting, Sir, and they mean to overthrow you."

"The former Angels?" Crowley had repeated. Then it had dawned on him. "You don't mean - " Of course. Who else would it be?

"Lanister, Alexander, and Xavier," Charles confirmed. "And I believe the female, Aurielle, is with them, too. Lanister appears to be the ringleader. He has been stirring up unrest by criticizing you and your policies to anyone who will listen."

"Really? You don't say," Crowley said, regarding Charles coolly. Damned Angels. They were a pain in his wallet pocket. Obviously, the erstwhile Upper Echelon weren't so happy toiling away in Hell with the rest of the unwashed masses. Well, it was time that they received a lesson on how things worked in Hell, and who was really in charge, and Crowley would be glad to provide that.

So Crowley had gone to see the men. He supposed he had made a mistake in letting them be assigned in the usual way. The computer program had obviously recognized their similarities and had assigned them all to work in the snake pits together. It was their job to feed and care for the snakes, and to make sure that none of them escaped from the pit. When a tortured individual was thrown into the pit because he or she had been late coming back from break once too often, they were put into the pit for whatever length of time they had been late by, subject to a multiplication factor. This factor was a random number, designed to maximize the level of anticipatory fear in the victim. Crowley knew there were fewer things scarier than that of the unknown. And he demanded that his workers be diligent. Once you allowed them to start slacking off, you were inviting anarchy. And the old-school punishment for Sloth was to be thrown into snake pits, after all. The King of Hell had adopted many modern methods during his reign, but there was something to be said for the old ways, too.

"Gentlemen," Crowley said casually. "What's this I hear about a certain little after-hours social club you've been running?"

Lanister dropped the rat he'd been holding by the tail into the viper's cage and turned to Crowley. "What social club?" he asked the King.

Crowley fixed him with a withering glare. "You know bloody well what I'm talking about, Lanister. And I understand that you're actually the brains behind the operation, if I can use that expression. I would have thought that it would have been you, Xavier," he added, turning to the former leader of the Angel board.

Xavier leaned on the shovel he'd been using to put more snakes in the pit. He wasn't intimidated by Crowley, as the two of them had had a fair amount of dealings with each other when Xavier had been scheming to become God. But Xavier was disappointed that Crowley had found out about their little group so quickly. They had been meaning for him to find out, of course, but not quite this soon. They still hadn't acquired the Demon Tablet, although they knew that they were close to doing so.

"I don't know what you're talking about, Crowley," Xavier said to him. "As you have made it abundantly clear, we're just workers here. I am no longer a leader, and there is nothing here to lead."

Crowley stared at them. So it was going to be like that, was it? Too bad he no longer had Castiel at his disposal; he could have just threatened them with their former compatriot. Crowley considered having them tortured, but he had the feeling that these guys could withstand any interrogation as attempted by his regular staff. None of them could hold a candle to his Brother in Demon form, though, as far as both cruelty and creativity went. And Crowley didn't take this perceived threat very seriously. It was just a lot of sabre-rattling, as far as he was concerned. So they were unhappy; well, this was Hell, wasn't it? If they thought that their merry little band could do anything to him, Crowley would like to see them try.

But when he had gotten back to his office, he had started to think about it a bit more. What made those guys think they could possibly unseat him? Was there something to it, after all? Crowley knew Xavier fairly well, but Charles had told him that Lanister was the instigator in this situation, and Crowley knew next to nothing about the man. How credible was the threat?

So Crowley had picked up the Hotline.

Bobby sighed. He just knew things had been too peaceful lately. "What is it, Crowley?" he asked.

"Do you know anything about your former board member Lanister?" Crowley asked him.

"What about him?"

"I've been told that he's inciting unrest here," Crowley responded. "I just wanted to know if I should be concerned about it."

Bobby rolled his eyes. "So what are you calling me for? What happens in Hell is your problem, not mine."

"That may be true, but seeing as it was your right-hand Angel that put him here, I thought I would inquire," Crowley said dryly.

"Well, I can't help you," Bobby said tersely. "I don't know anything about the guy."

"Where's Castiel?" Crowley asked. "I imagine he knows Lanister quite well."

Bobby frowned. "He's busy." He was not about to tell Crowley where Cas was and what he was doing. It was none of Crowley's business, anyway.

Now it was Crowley's turn to sigh. Obviously, Bobby was going to be of no help to him in this situation. But Crowley had just called Bobby first as a courtesy, attempting to go through the proper channels. Crowley could actually reach Castiel without Bobby's help. They were both Originals, after all.

So he'd said goodbye to Bobby and hung up the phone, and then he sent out the call to Castiel.

Cas and Gail were cuddling, but they weren't watching TV. They had started to talk, and once they'd started, they hadn't been able to stop. Gail still had a few things that she needed to get off her chest, and she had finally told him about all of the nights she had sat on her bed at the bunker just staring at the pictures on the wall, with her boxes of tissues beside her on the bed. Cas had already suspected as much. In the first timeline, before he had sent her and Sam back to reverse the accident, he had been to her room and seen the evidence there. But he said nothing, recognizing that she had a need to vent her feelings. It heartened him to learn that she had missed him that much, but he still felt terrible that their separation had even had to have occurred in the first place.

"I'm so sorry, Gail," Cas told her. "I was a fool to think that I could just walk around with Demon essence inside of me and that it wouldn't change me. I of all people should have known better."

"We were both stupid," she sighed. "I went along with it."

"Yes, but my behaviour was inexcusable," Cas countered, frowning.

Gail had nothing to say about that, because it was pretty much the truth. But she had forgiven him anyway, partly because there had been times that her behaviour had not been much better. She had been an enabler to him most of the time. At first, she had been in denial about just how bad he could possibly get, but they hadn't known about Metatron's special little cocktail then, either. By the time she had found out about that, she'd had Cas's diseased blood in her, and later on, Crowley's, as well. By then, she had surrendered both herself and her better judgement to the disease, and surrendered her body and her will to Cas. But once she had drunk the cure, Gail had taken a really close look at herself and realized that she had been part of the problem. And that was why Gail had ultimately been able to forgive him; because she had now forgiven herself. They were both better individuals now, and she had always loved who Cas really was.

"I'm so thankful that you have forgiven me, but it's really difficult for me to try to forgive myself for what I did to you," Cas said. "I betrayed your trust. I promise, you will never have any reason to mistrust me again." Then he sighed. If what he was saying were to have any meaning at all, he needed to come clean with her about everything.

So he told her about having sent her and Sam back in time.

Gail was astonished. "So we've done all of this before?" she asked him.

"Well, not everything, exactly," Cas said with a tight smile. "But yes, this is our second summer this year. I believe that we were actually on the verge of reconciling when I had to send you and Sam back, to negate his injury. And it worked. You saved him, Gail, by allowing that truck to hit you, instead."

Wow. This was unbelievable. She was thankful that Sam was all right, of course, but a part of her was angry, too. Gail sat up and looked around the room. She spotted Cas's shirt on the floor, and she climbed out of bed and put it on. She tried to button it up, but it was slow going. She had never been good at that.

Oh, the hell with it, then. She looked around for her own clothes and began to scoop them up from the floor, piece by piece.

Cas was alarmed now. "What are you doing?" he asked her.

Gail looked at him. What WAS she doing? She sat down on the edge of the bed with her clothes bundled in her arms. "I'm trying to decide if I want to stay here or not," she said. She was debating with herself now. He was telling her that, once again, he had done something to her without her consent. Or at least, she didn't remember having consented to it. But that was the trouble. Apparently, she'd had a whole other summer that she knew nothing about. But it had been for a good cause, hadn't it?

Cas winced. He had known that she would be surprised, but he had been hoping that the fact that Sam was all right now would mitigate her anger. He reached out and touched her arm. "Would you give me your hand, Gail? Please?"

"I don't know if I want to, Cas," she said soberly. "You need to stop doing things to me without my knowledge."

"But you did know about it," he argued. "You just don't remember that you knew about it. You can ask Dean, if you don't believe me. He was there." She was still holding on to her clothes, and he could see the knuckles of her hands turning white as she clutched them. She was going to do it. She was going to leave him again.

"Why are you so angry?" he asked her softly. "What's really going on here?"

Gail flung her clothes on the floor and wheeled on him. "You held me down and injected me, Cas. Then you modified my memory so I would think that I actually agreed to it. And now I find out that I had a whole summer that I don't even remember? How am I supposed to feel?" She was on the verge of tears now, and now she was also angry that he was making her cry yet again.

Cas's heart sank. Of course she was still angry about that. Of all of the things he had done to her, forcibly injecting her that first time and then making her think that she had consented to it was probably the most reprehensible. Tears sprung to his own eyes now.

"Why didn't you send me back to before THAT ever happened?" Gail asked him bitterly. "Or, better still, why didn't you just send us back to the time before the tribunal?"

"I thought about that," Cas told her. "And I was sorely tempted to do it. But it was too risky."

"What do you mean? How?" she demanded.

"Every time you send someone back like that, you risk changing the timeline, or altering that individual irrevocably," he explained. "We've lived this same summer twice, and it's been pretty much the same, with just a few subtle differences. And you and Sam seem thankfully unchanged. But we got lucky. The further back you go, the more dangerous it becomes. I didn't want Sam to be a different type of person when he came back, and I certainly didn't want YOU to be," he continued persuasively.

Castiel had God's attention now, though. Though He had given his Son the power to send people back in time when absolutely necessary, He hadn't realized the truth as Castiel was explaining it now. That had been the problem all along. God Himself had gone back, not once but twice, to the beginning of all of it. He'd led Crowley back to the Garden to choose to refrain from killing his Brother, and then He had brought him back there again, to reinstate the original murder. How had He not realized this before? Castiel was right; the further back you went, the more dangerous things got.

And now, things were teetering on the brink again. If Gail could not trust His Son, she could not be with him. And if she would not be with him, everything was going to go upside down again.

God waved His hand.

Sam was back in his and Dean's hotel room now, and he had just started to unbutton his shirt when he fell on the bed, unconscious.

Dean was in the back of the limousine having one last beer on the ride back to the hotel. He had dropped Nicole off a few minutes ago, walking her to the door of her apartment building. She had given up on trying to pry any information out of him, and instead, they had made small talk. They had talked about movies, and cars, and current events. Lighthearted conversation, for the most part. Nicole had let him kiss her at the door, and she had given him her number when he'd asked for it.

So Dean was smiling as he thought about the evening. He'd had a good time today, starting with their visit to the set and ending with that kiss. He'd thought about asking for more, but Nicole obviously wasn't prepared to be just a random pickup, and Dean was somewhat inexplicably glad about that. Maybe that was because he really liked her.

He put down his beer, and promptly passed out.

Gail was standing now. "Well, I'm not different, and neither is Sam!" she said, her voice raising. "But I wish I WERE different!"

Cas scrambled off the bed and went to her, holding her gently. "You don't mean that, Gail," he said to her.

"Yes, I do," she said in a more subdued tone. Her voice was muffled against his chest. She was letting him hold her, but her arms were hanging limply at her sides. "Then maybe I wouldn't be such a sucker. How do I keep falling for this crap?"

Cas was cradling her now. His stomach was clenched with guilt. Had he really thought that it was going to be that easy? That she would just move back into his apartment, and his bed, and that everything that had happened would just be forgotten? It wasn't his having sent her back in time that was really bothering her; it was everything that Demon Cas had done to her.

"I would give anything to take it all back," Cas said softly. "Anything."

Gail closed her eyes, squeezing out the tears that were pooled in them. Then she went completely limp in Cas's arms as she blacked out.

Gail woke up in Bobby's office. She looked around, confused. What the hell was this, now? She had just been in Cas's apartment and he had been trying to comfort her, and then...that had been it.

Amazingly, Sam and Dean were sitting beside her, as was Cas. And both Bobby and God were sitting behind the desk, across from the four of them.

Now she got it. She was obviously dreaming. But, wait: that couldn't be true. She was an Angel again, and Angels didn't sleep. So how could she be having a dream, then?

Gail looked to her left then, and her eyes grew even wider as she saw Frank and Jody sitting on her other side. Had they been there a moment ago? What was going on?

"Is everybody here now?" Bobby asked God.

God nodded. "Everyone that needs to be here, yes," He told Bobby. "I think we'll leave Chuck alone."

"And Crowley?" Bobby asked, his brow furrowing.

God frowned. "Him, too." He Himself wondered if this was the right decision, but He had His reasons for wanting the King of Hell to be left out of this matter. Right now, the priority was to repair the damage that He had done to these children. He would need them to be a cohesive unit for the battle ahead.

"Did you really mean it?" God asked Castiel.

Cas looked startled, but he knew his Father very well by now, and his heart leaped in his chest. "Yes, I did, my Father," he responded.

God sighed. "I owe all of you an apology. You have been damaged by my actions. Each one of you has."

Gail looked at her brother, and her human friends. If she was confused, they must be completely freaked out. They were sitting in Heaven, in God's office, and the original God was sitting here, apologizing to them. But they all looked calm; serene, even.

"What's going on, Cas?" Gail asked warily.

"Father has answered my prayers," he told her. "He's going to take it all away. It will have never happened."

But God was shaking His head. "I didn't say that, Castiel."

Now it was Cas who was wary. "But that is what I prayed for."

"What am I, a magic genie?" God quipped. "I have apologized, and I am willing to intervene, but not to that extent."

"But what I did will hang over all of our heads forever." Cas looked at his friends, agitated.

"And exactly how long is forever?" God asked him.

Castiel looked at Gail, remembering the moment that he had held her down and injected her. "Sometimes, just one second," he said, his voice breaking. "That was the moment I lost your trust."

She knew exactly what he was talking about. "No, that was the moment that you showed you didn't deserve it," she retorted, and he hung his head. She was right.

"Don't waste time looking back on what you've lost," God told them. "Move on, for life is not meant to be travelled backwards."

Gail looked at Him evenly. That was really easy for Him to say. She knew that He would be able to hear her thoughts, but for the first time ever, she didn't care. He was supposed to be retired, wasn't He? Then what was He even doing here, anyway? She wished He would just leave them alone. She was tired of being played with.

"I once read a poem that expresses perfectly how I feel right now," Gail said to God, and then she turned around in her chair to face Cas. "'In all our wrongs, I want to write him, in a time where I can find him. Before the tears that tore us, when all our history was before us'."

A tear rolled down Cas's cheek. He understood what she was trying to say, and she had put it eloquently. She did still love him, but everything that had happened to them, and between them, had proved to be too much for her.

God considered this. That had to be the saddest thing He had ever heard. He had simply intended to have a chat with them all, to try to convince them to let go of the hidden resentments He knew that they all still had. He'd thought that Bobby's idea of "group therapy" over drinks at the bunker had been a solid one, but it hadn't gone far enough. They were all getting along on the surface again, but deep down, the feelings they all still had about Demon Cas were festering, and would never completely heal. But, as tempting as it was, God was not prepared to do yet another reset. Look what had happened before, when He had tried that. So, what was to be done here?

God turned to Bobby. "You will need them all, and you will need them all to be able to trust one another."

Bobby frowned. He wanted everyone to trust everyone, but he didn't like the sound of that. "What are you talking about?" he asked God.

God smiled. "I'm not going to tell you that," he told Bobby. "No one was meant to see the future."

Bobby was fuming. Of course God wasn't going to tell him anything. Why should today be different from any other day?

God heard Bobby's thought, but He ignored it. A little knowledge could be a dangerous thing, but sometimes too much knowledge was far, far worse.

God rose from his chair and walked over to where Frank and Jody sat. Without preliminary, He put his hands on their heads and the white glow emanated from His hands. Then He walked over to where Dean and Sam sat, on the other side of Cas and Gail.

God lifted His hands, but Castiel grabbed His arm. "What are you doing to them?" he asked worriedly.

God smiled down at him. "You're getting your wish, Castiel. They will not remember anything about that unfortunate and despicable period in your existence, nor about this little get-together. They think they are dreaming right now."

He turned back to Sam and Dean and then put His hand on Sam's head, modifying his memory. But Dean blocked God's hand before God could touch him.

"Nope," Dean said. "Not gonna happen."

"Really, Dean?" God said, imitating Gail, and Cas smiled in spite of himself.

But Dean was staring at God, and his eyes were clear and bright. "I want to remember," he said. Then he turned to face Cas. "And I think you should, too."

"I do want to remember," Cas said to him. "I need to remember."

"Then we'll both remember," Dean said, nodding his head at his friend. "And I'll be prepared to kick your ass if you ever show any signs of being a dick again."

"It's a deal," Cas said, smiling.

God smiled, too; He just couldn't help it. Dean Winchester was truly one of His most special creations.

Then God moved to stand in front of Gail. "And you, my Daughter?" He said to her. "What do you say? I know you like to be asked, first," He quipped.

She gave Him a small smile; she knew a good quip when she heard one. Gail was torn now. Should she elect to remember it all? Keep all of the pain and resentment inside of her? But then, what would she do with it? She said that she had forgiven Cas, but had she, really? And what would their relationship be like going forward if she held on to all of those memories? She was tired of pretending that she wasn't bitter all the time.

Gail looked up at God. "Do it," she said. "Please."

Cas took her hand and squeezed it. "This is the last time you will experience anything like this, I promise," he told her. "But our Father is actually performing an act of mercy on all of you, and He is being merciful to me, too. I choose to remember as my rightful penance, but I'm glad that you're choosing to forget. So, before you do..." He slipped off his chair and got down on his knees in front of her, taking both of her hands in his. "I just wanted to tell you again how very sorry I am." He bowed his head.

After a moment, God put his hand on Castiel's shoulder. "Rise, my Son," He said. "Let's get this show on the road, as they say."

Cas retook his seat, and then God put His hand on Gail's head, removing all of her memories of that dark period in their lives. As far as she, Jody, Frank and Sam would know, they would have just returned from the cabin, where Cas and Gail had just escaped from Metatron, Jason and Aurielle.

"How are we gonna explain all the changes that have happened since that day?" Dean asked Cas. Cas shrugged. He actually had no idea. They both looked up at God.

God sighed. This was what messing around with timelines and memories and Free Will got you. He made the rounds again, further modifying everyone's memories that He had previously modified to be automatically accepting of the changes which had taken place since.

"There," He said. "That ought to do it." He looked down at His children. "You will need to rely heavily on one another in the near future. Never forget, you are a family. And never forget about your love for each other."

He turned to Bobby. "I leave it to you," God told him. Then God waved His hands, sending everyone back to where they had just been, and then He Himself disappeared.


	5. Hell Hath No Fury

Gail and Cas were back in bed in his Vancouver apartment, and he was watching her closely. Had her memory truly been so modified to the point where she not only didn't recall his ever having been a Demon, but was accepting of the fact that they now somehow lived in Vancouver?

"Why are you looking at me like that?" Gail asked him, smiling.

"Like what?" Cas said, trying to sound innocent.

She touched his face. "I don't know, exactly," she said, puzzled. "Almost like you're waiting for something."

Cas was startled by her perception. He hadn't realized that he was that much of an open book to her now. But it made sense, really. He was inscrutable to everyone else when he chose to be, but she was the one person he had always felt closest to. He'd had to hide things from her in the past out of necessity, and now he would be hiding the biggest thing of all. But it was for her own benefit. She would be happy this way, because she would no longer be traumatized by the terrible things that he had done.

He nuzzled her hand. "I was just waiting for you to kiss me," he said charmingly.

"Oh," she said. "Well, Heaven forbid you should have to wait for that." Then she did kiss him, and she gave him her tongue when he opened her mouth with his. She still had his shirt on, and as he slipped his hand underneath it to caress her bare skin, Cas realized with alarm that the rest of her clothing would not be here. Her things would be back at the hotel where she and Sam and Dean had been staying. How was he going to explain that to her? As far as she would know, the two of them were living here together, so why would her clothing be in a hotel room, and why would the rest of it be at the bunker?

Cas glanced at the closet, panicked. But her clothes were all there, hanging next to his. Oh, thank you, Father.

"What are you looking at?" Gail asked him, but she was smiling. "I thought that what was going on here was interesting enough."

"My sincerest apologies," Cas said, looking at her. "It certainly is." He kissed her again, and then deftly unbuttoned the shirt she was wearing. His head was spinning with the implications of what had just happened. So...Gail, Frank, Sam and Jody would have absolutely no recollection of him as a Demon? That was wonderful, but there was a lot more involved than that. Many others still knew, including Crowley. His Brother had been constantly sending Castiel messages to call ever since Cas and Gail had begun to argue earlier, and Cas had been ignoring them, finally just shutting off the frequency altogether. How was Castiel going to deal with the fact that Crowley would remember everything, yet Gail would not?

He would worry about that later. She was kissing him again, clinging to him without a trace of anger or resentment on her face. And she was touching him. Her fingers lightly grazed his skin, teasing him, and it felt amazing.

"I still can't believe we're able to do this now," Gail said softly. "After Crowley took all the Demon out of you, I wasn't sure if this would even be possible."

So, that was where the reset had occurred in her mind. He'd have to try to remember that.

"When it comes to real love, anything is possible," Cas said glibly. But he really did mean that. His Father had given him the most generous gift He had ever given Castiel: a fresh start with Gail, and he would never take it for granted.

Her hand closed around him now, and he let out a soft moan. He reached down and began to stroke her, and she started to do the same to him. "You're right, Cas," she said. "I love you, so much."

Cas couldn't speak, not only because of what she was doing to him, but because he couldn't believe how lucky he was. They had their old life back, and she loved him again. It was more than he could ever have hoped for.

Gail was smiling. He was so cute when he got like this. In Las Vegas, when they'd touched each other intimately for the first time, he'd had the same look on his face, like it was so unbelievable that anything could feel this good. And she'd felt like that herself. They'd had so little experience with each other, and with this kind of activity, that she had been afraid it would be awkward. She had almost been tempted to ask Crowley to leave just a little Demon in Cas, she thought with amusement. Then maybe he'd know more about what to do in the bedroom. But they seemed to be doing all right in that department right now. She guessed that true love always found a way to express itself.

But Cas wasn't having any trouble expressing himself at the moment. He was moving against her hand, telling her he loved her, and that she meant everything to him.

He was being so sweet, and Gail started to feel it now. His fingers sped up, and his technique was surprisingly good. Maybe he had Googled this or something, Gail thought, smiling to herself. She started to make little noises and he smiled, pleased that he was making her feel as good as she was making him feel.

Suddenly, he moved his body down and used his tongue on her. Cas knew that when she began making those sounds, she was nearly ready, and he knew this was what she liked the best.

Gail was astonished. She began to cry out immediately. She'd have to send Google a Thank You card. How had he known to do that? Yes, they had done this particular thing in Las Vegas, but he had been very tentative about it, and she hadn't been sure what she'd wanted him to do either, having had so little experience herself. But he was doing this now like he'd been doing it all his life, and she abandoned herself to the feeling. It was incredible. He was incredible.

Cas caressed her hips and thighs as she cried out, and he smiled. He supposed this was cheating, just a little. He had the benefit of having made love to her many times by now, but she wouldn't remember any of the good, just as she wouldn't remember any of the bad. So he had a very good idea now of what she liked, and what would make her feel her best. And he owed it to her to love her the best way he could. She may have forgotten about the violence and the marks now, but he hadn't, and he never would.

"Cas!" she cried, then he knew that she was satisfied for the time being. So he made love to her there for a minute or two more, and then he brought his body back up to kiss her on the mouth. He was still in his state of excitement, and she could see and feel that. "Why did you - " she started to say. She was still trying to catch her breath.

"Because your happiness is the most important thing," he told her, smiling. "Because mine can always wait."

Gail shook her head. He was truly unbelievable. "Well, I don't think it should wait," she said. She moved down his body and took him in her mouth. She'd done this to him in Las Vegas, and he had been so shocked and so pleased at the feeling that he had been rendered speechless. She hadn't been sure if she was doing it right, and she still wasn't sure now, but he seemed to be enjoying it.

Cas was enjoying it, very much. She was so sweet to do this for him, and it felt amazing, as it always had when she did it. Technique wasn't the most important thing to him, it was who was doing it that was. Cas had never understood why some humans seemed to feel a need to cheat on their partners. Why would you want to engage in these same types of activities with another, when you could do them with the one person you loved above all else? That didn't make any sense to him at all. The reason what Gail was doing felt so fantastic to him was because she was the one who was doing it.

He closed his eyes and concentrated on the feeling of her lips and her tongue on him, and her feather-soft touch. She was teasing him now, as she had done so many times before. He had liked it when she'd done that, because it felt so wonderful when she resumed. The Demon had gotten impatient and had been rough with her, but Cas was happy to wait. The longer it took, the more amazing he felt.

Then she did resume, and Cas called out her name, then he lost his breath altogether. Gail smiled. She was pleased with herself. She'd obviously done it all right, then.

They kissed and cuddled afterwards, a happy and loving couple. Castiel had been talking softly to her, telling her how much he loved and respected her. He drew her out in conversation to find out how she felt, and where she was at as far as her memories went. It was peculiar; she only remembered their having left the cabin, yet she seemed just fine with the current situation of them living in Vancouver, and him working on the TV show. It was incongruous, really. But he was glad. Now he could finish out the season, and they would be together, as they had been planning before they'd had the argument and God had intervened on Cas's behalf. Presumably, Sam and Dean were still here, but Cas and Dean could just explain that away as a vacation for the brothers after the difficult time they had had after the incidents with the Demon Tablet, and Cas and Gail's abduction to the cabin. Jody would now be back home in Sioux Falls, and Frank would be wherever he had been, presumably on the road somewhere. Sam would no longer have the feelings of anger towards Cas that he had had due to Demon Cas's abuse of Gail, which was good. But Sam might very well still be in love with Gail now, which was not. Cas didn't really see that as much of a problem any more, though. He and Gail were a loving couple again, and Sam would have no reason to think that they had ever been otherwise. And Jody, and especially Frank, would be looking at things from the same viewpoint. Cas would have a fresh start with Frank, too, and he was extremely happy about that. One of the worst things about that time had been Cas's broken relationship with Gail's brother, and now he would have the chance to put that right. Frank was Cas's family now, and Cas very badly wanted to get along with him. Maybe Cas could enlist Dean's help in that regard. He knew that Frank thought a lot of Dean, and Dean could probably guide Cas on how to communicate better with Frank. Bobby, too; he was the other one who would remember everything that had transpired, including how badly Cas had screwed that relationship up.

But those recent attempts from Crowley to communicate had now started to bother Castiel. What did Crowley want with him, all of a sudden? Castiel had not seen or spoken to the King of Hell since he and Gail had been cured, and he had liked that just fine. What could Crowley possibly want with him now?

Cas reached over and grabbed the remote from the nightstand. "Do you mind if we watch some TV?" he asked Gail.

She smiled. He loved his TV. "Of course not," she said. "Here, let me get into prime cuddling position." She wriggled herself halfway down on the bed, and he put his legs on either side of her. She liked to lay with the back of her head on his chest, and he wrapped his arms around her once he'd turned on the TV. Usually, he would channel-surf until he found something of interest to him, and Gail didn't seem to care what he put on once she was nestled in his arms. But he gave her the remote now.

"You choose tonight," Cas told her.

"Wow. To what do I owe the honour?" she quipped. He could hear the amusement in her voice.

He kissed the top of her head. "Maybe I thought about it, and realized it's not fair for me to be the only one in control of the TV all the time," he said lightly. "There are two of us in this relationship, and we should both have an equal say in things."

Gail was impressed. All of those women that Cas worked with in the wardrobe department must be giving him lessons in enlightenment. Truthfully, she didn't care that much about what they watched, but it was actually nice to be offered the chance to choose once in a while.

Cas did believe in what he was saying, but he also wanted Gail to be occupied while he made the call to Bobby on Angel Radio. He used his private frequency, of course.

"Bobby?" Cas said when their friend answered. "Do you know why Crowley's been trying to reach me?"

Bobby frowned. Damn Crowley. He should have known that the King of Hell wasn't going to leave it alone. "He's worried about Lanister, apparently," he told Cas. "I guess Lanister's causing trouble in Hell, or something."

"What would that have to do with us?" Cas asked him, puzzled.

"That's what I said," Bobby replied. "But he made some kind of sarcastic comment about you having put Lanister there in the first place, and then he asked me what Lanister was like. I told him I didn't know the guy. I guess I shoulda known that Crowley wouldn't just leave it at that."

Cas sighed. No, Crowley wouldn't. If his Brother had gotten a bee in his bonnet about Lanister, he wouldn't give up until he got his answers.

"I guess I'll have to talk to Crowley, then," Castiel said, resigned. "But how am I going to do that without Gail's knowledge?"

Bobby shook his head. "I don't know if you want to start doing stuff like that, Cas. Do you really want to go sneaking around behind her back when the two of you have just gotten back together? Aren't we keeping enough from her as it is?" Truthfully, it bothered Bobby a bit that God had just erased all of her memories of the abuse she'd suffered at Demon Cas's hands. Well, that was nice and neat for Cas, wasn't it? He was kind of getting off scot-free on this one, wasn't he? But, in the larger scheme of things, Bobby supposed that it was for the best all around. That period of time had been really hard on Gail, and on the others too, so Bobby guessed that what God had done was ultimately compassionate. And He had given Gail the choice. Sometimes, ignorance truly was bliss. But Bobby didn't believe a relationship could stay healthy if each was hiding too many things from the other, either.

Cas thought about what Bobby was saying, and what he wasn't saying, and Cas could read between the lines. He didn't want to keep anything else from Gail, either; this secret was big enough as it was. But how could Cas stop Crowley from opening up his big, sarcastic mouth?

"Can you do me a favour, Bobby?" Cas said. "Can you call Crowley and tell him I'll help him, on the condition that he agrees to keep quiet about everything?"

Bobby rolled his eyes. Now they were going to conspire with the King of Hell to keep everyone in the dark. Terrific. But they were actually doing Crowley the favour by providing him with the information, not the other way around, so if he really wanted Cas's help, he would play ball.

"All right, Cas," Bobby told him. "I'll let you know what he says."

Bobby called Crowley, repeating Cas's offer.

Crowley was incredulous. "So you're telling me that God Himself had just washed all of her memories away?"

"Essentially, yeah," Bobby confirmed. "And we don't need you saying anything that will upset or confuse her."

Crowley laughed derisively. "Oh, no, we wouldn't want that." He couldn't believe it. So, their Father was basically letting Castiel get away with it. All of it. Wow. His Brother had been the worst sort of individual there could be, worse than Crowley himself, and now he was shiny clean again, and his girlfriend would be looking at him with dewy-eyed admiration once more. How revolting. The only thing to be determined now was: How credible was the threat that the former Angels might pose, and what form might it take? And was Crowley concerned enough about it to be willing to go along with this sickening charade?

Bobby called Cas back on Angel Radio and told him that Crowley was willing to cooperate. He would meet with both Cas and Gail at the crossroads in an hour.

Castiel frowned. He had just assumed he'd be meeting with Crowley alone. Why did his Brother want Gail there? He asked Bobby this now.

Bobby sighed. He was getting a little tired of being a go-between. "I don't know, Cas. You'll just have to go and find out. Then I guess the two of you had better come up here and give me your report. I don't know if we even need to care about this, but I wanna be kept in the loop. It's a good thing I don't sleep, but sometimes I wish I did; it'd be a good excuse to get out of this damn office once in a while."

Cas signed off, and he wrapped his arms tighter around Gail. He was very glad now that he hadn't taken the job when God had offered it to him. Look at what Castiel was doing right now, compared to what Bobby was doing.

But now, he had to tell her. "I just got a call from Bobby on Angel Radio," Cas told Gail. He wasn't lying; well, not technically, anyway. "Apparently, Crowley wants to meet with us at the crossroads in an hour."

Gail sat up and maneuvered herself around so that she was able to look at him. "So soon? Didn't we just see him?" she asked Cas. "What does he want now?"

"Bobby told me he's concerned about Lanister," Cas told her. Then his blood ran cold. Gail was going to wonder how Lanister, Xavier and Alexander were all in Hell together now. Cas had killed the latter two when he'd been a Demon, but she would no longer know about that. Cas had been so busy being glad that she retained no knowledge of that whole ugly time that he had not stopped to think of all the other little secrets that went along with the big one. He would have to act surprised by that, too. Now Castiel was starting to wonder if his Father had done him such a favour, after all.

"Why?" Gail was asking him now. "And why should we care?"

"I don't know," Cas replied. "But Bobby seems to think that we should find out, and he wants us to report back to him after we talk to Crowley." There. He had made it sound like it was a fact-finding mission for God.

"OK," Gail said agreeably. "I'll go have a quick shower, then." She smiled. "Too bad. I was really enjoying what we were doing just now. But, duty calls. I guess that's what happens when you don't punch a clock." She moved her body up to kiss him, and he wrapped his arms around her and kissed her on the mouth. "Don't start that, now," Gail said mischievously. "Otherwise, I'll be tempted to tell Bobby to tell Crowley to go to...well, you know how to finish that sentence."

She got off the bed and padded to the bathroom. Cas stared after her, smiling, but his smile soon faded. This was going to be a delicate dance. He hoped Crowley had truly meant it when he'd said he was going to cooperate. His Brother must really be concerned to have agreed to the terms. What was going on in Hell?

Lanister was talking softly to Aurielle in the break room. "We need to hurry it up," he told her. "Crowley's asking questions now. If he gets any idea of what we're really up to, he could remove the Tablet from its hiding place, and then where will we be? And I have the feeling that the punishment for treason here in Hell is something we would not even wish to contemplate."

Aurielle frowned. She'd known this was going to happen. She'd been cultivating Freddy for weeks now. He was the Demon that Crowley had assigned to guard the doorway which led to the wing where Lucifer's cage was. Lanister had seen something very interesting a while back, and he'd shared it and its possible implications with the other fallen Angels.

Lanister had seen Crowley himself carrying the Demon Tablet to that very door, using a key to unlock it. Then the King had gone inside, and he had come back out without it. Lanister had received the lash that night for arriving back from his break late, but it had been well worth it. Lanister hadn't ever seen the Demon Tablet, but judging by the looks of the thing, and the careful way that Crowley had been holding it, and also the fact that it had been Crowley himself who had been doing the transporting, Lanister knew that the object must be highly significant. He wanted to get his hands on it and examine it further. So he had asked Aurielle to make Freddy's acquaintance, and once she had, she was to convince him to let her in the door so she could search for the object and bring it back to Lanister.

It had been a tall order, but Aurielle felt like she was very close to convincing Freddy to do it. She'd stopped by to see him whenever she had the chance, and she had flattered and flirted to the extent that Freddy had told her that he could satisfy her curiosity about what lay behind that door, if she could satisfy him first.

Aurielle knew what that meant, of course. But, really, what else would you expect from a Demon? The trouble was, Aurielle had never done anything like that before. She had died a virgin, and the only one she had even considered letting do to her what Freddy wanted to do to her was Castiel, of course. She still thought about Castiel all the time, and she wondered where he was now, and what he was doing. No one had seen him here in Hell for months. She had been astounded to hear what he had done to Alexander, and especially to Xavier. But then she supposed she shouldn't have been, really. Aurielle had seen Castiel here herself a while back, with his strange purple eyes and his cruel expression. She had offered herself up as a sacrifice to him that day, but he had spurned her. And now she was expected to give up her most precious gift, the one she had been saving for Castiel alone, to a rank and file Demon, just so she could gain admittance through some door to try to find an old stone Tablet for Lanister to examine on the off chance that it was even of any significance to them?

But Lanister was shrewd, and he had read Aurielle accurately. Her magic word was not "please", it was "Castiel". So Lanister had told her that if they were somehow able to overthrow Crowley and take over Heaven and Hell's rule, he would personally arrange for Aurielle to reunite with Castiel. This had gotten her attention. If she were only able to get one more chance with her beloved, Aurielle was sure that she could convince him that she would do anything for him, anything he needed. He may be a bloodthirsty Demon now, but she was a Demon too, and if debasing herself was the only way she could have him, then Aurielle would do it.

So she had sighed and told Lanister that she would go to see Freddy that evening.

Freddy saw Aurielle approach, and he puffed out his chest. He knew that she was impressed by him, and the fact that he was in charge of such an important area of Hell. It had been ages since he'd had any sort of female attention, and Freddy had suggested that if she were willing to play along, he could let her in for a minute and show her the cage. Every Demon in Hell was curious about that place, but only he had the power to satisfy that curiosity.

"Hi, Freddy," Aurielle said softly. "How are you?"

"Better, now that you're here," he told her.

She smiled. "I was able to sneak away for a little bit. Do you think now might be a good time to show me the cage?"

"Are you ready to pay the admission fee?" he asked her, smiling.

Aurielle sighed inwardly. "I just might be," she said flirtatiously, answering his smile.

He grabbed her arm and pulled her towards him, but Aurielle said, "Not here. Someone might come."

"Nobody ever comes by here," Freddy assured her. "They're all too scared of what lies behind this door."

"Well, I'm not," Aurielle retorted. "But if you take me in there, we'll be somewhere private. And I'm a lot more relaxed when I'm in private."

That convinced Freddy, and he unlocked the door and let them both in. The passageway was dark to her eyes at first, but as her eyes adjusted, Aurielle thought she could just make out something down the corridor.

"Is that it?" she asked Freddy.

"Yeah, that's it," he confirmed. "That's the cage." He reached for her, but she shook him off and started walking down the hall. Her assignment was to look for the Tablet, and Aurielle's eyes were darting around, but now that she was actually here, she really wanted to see the cage. No one here ever got to see it, and her curiousity had gotten the better of her.

"Hey!" Freddy said, raising his voice. "Wait!" He was pissed off now. She had tricked him into letting her in here, but now that they were here, he had wanted to take advantage of the dark surroundings. He didn't need much, really; all she would have to do was get down on her knees for a few minutes, and then he would let her come in here any time she wanted to.

Lucifer and Metatron had heard Freddy shout, and they were curious. They hadn't seen or heard anyone in here since Crowley had come in a while back carrying a block of stone that had looked suspiciously to Metatron like the Demon Tablet. Crowley had ignored them when they'd tried to speak with him, and he had walked back out without a word, and without the Tablet.

Metatron had been practically salivating by that point. To have the Demon Tablet this close excited him.

"There has to be a way for us to get our hands on it," he'd said to Lucifer.

"What do you care about closing the Gates of Hell now?" Lucifer had said, annoyed.

Metatron had given him an indulgent look. Apparently, there were some things his Brother didn't know, after all. "I don't," he said cheerfully. "But that's not the only thing it can do, you know. You forget; I'm the one who transcribed those Tablets for our Father in the first place. There's another thing it can do, and I'm sure that no one else knows about it, not even Crowley, or he would surely have destroyed it by now."

Lucifer rolled his eyes. If it were even possible to drive the Devil crazy, Metatron was the right guy for the job. He was sooo obnoxious. He thought he knew everything. Well, he clearly hadn't known enough to prevent himself from being locked up in here, had he? But they had nothing but time in here, and Lucifer was a little curious now.

"And what would that be, Metatron?" Lucifer asked.

Metatron's grin was horrible to behold as he said, "It can open this cage, that's what."

"What?!" Lucifer roared. "Why didn't you tell me this before?"

Aurielle heard Lucifer yelling, and then she heard the other voice, and it was a voice she recognized.

"Why should I have?" Metatron yelled back.

"Why should you have?" Lucifer shouted. His eyes turned red, and the glow was so bright that Aurielle and Freddy could see it all the way down the corridor. Now Freddy was scared. There was a reason the cage was in this wing of Hell. "Maybe we should go," he said tentatively, but Aurielle was advancing down the hall towards the cage. What on earth was Metatron doing here?

Metatron shielded his eyes from the glow. This was the first time he had ever seen anything like this from Lucifer, and it unsettled him a bit. But he was not going to show it, of course. "Yeah, why would I?" he shot back. "Before I got here, I certainly didn't want YOU to be set free! And after I got here, I never figured that Crowley would be so stupid as to bring the damned thing in here!"

Lucifer's mind was working furiously now. He knew that Metatron was telling the truth about the Tablet; his roommate was acting entirely too agitated now to be playing a game with him. Yes, they had to get their hands on that Tablet. But how?

Suddenly, Aurielle appeared in front of the cage.

"Aurielle!" Metatron said delightedly. "What are you doing here?"

"Never mind ME, what are YOU doing here?" she said.

"I don't really know," Metatron said, affecting a pout. "I guess Bobby just doesn't like me."

"Who's your friend?" Lucifer asked Metatron, grinning happily. First Gail, and now this one. He'd seen more females in the past couple of months than he had in untold centuries, and Lucifer liked it.

Aurielle's eyes were wide. "I know who you are," she said to Lucifer. "You're the worst Angel there ever was."

Lucifer's laugh echoed through the corridor. He wiped his eyes, looking at Aurielle appreciatively. "That was a good one," he said to her. "Considering the list of potential candidates, I feel highly complimented by that."

"This is Aurielle," Metatron said to Lucifer. "She's the one that I told you about."

"Ohhhh," Lucifer said. "The one who wants to be Gail's replacement."

Freddy had edged up to the cage by now, and he grabbed Aurielle's arm. "You shouldn't be talking to them," he hissed at her. "Don't you know how dangerous they are?"

Metatron was amused by that, and a little flattered, too. He'd never really been described as dangerous before. "I don't really think she needs to worry about little old me," he said to Freddy. "Aurielle and I are old friends, aren't we, my dear?"

"Maybe you should have worried about me, though," Lucifer said quietly. In his agitation, Freddy had come too close to the bars of the cage, and Lucifer now reached through the gap in the bars and grabbed Freddy by the throat. He twisted his hand, snapping Freddy's neck. Then he let go, and Freddy's vessel crumpled to the floor.

"You're welcome," he said to Aurielle. She looked at him, puzzled. "Wasn't he trying to take what belongs to Castiel?" Lucifer asked her innocently.

Aurielle's face broke into a smile as Metatron gaped at her. Wow. He knew this woman was crazy, but she was looking at Lucifer like he was a friend. She had no idea who she was dealing with here.

But, Lucifer did. Using one of his special talents, he had instantly figured out what Aurielle's deal was, and she would be someone who could feed him for quite a while. Lucifer had always loved crazy people. If she were to be able to help him and Metatron get loose, Lucifer might be willing to help her in her quest to get Castiel. If Aurielle and Castiel were to set up house together, Lucifer could move into their attic and live off that much crazy forever.

"If you will help us, we could certainly help you in what you seek," Lucifer said to Aurielle.

She looked at him suspiciously, but said nothing. Everybody knew that the Devil liked to tempt people.

"There's a stone Tablet in here somewhere," Metatron said. "We need to get a look at it."

Aurielle looked at him warily. Why was everyone interested in that old slab of stone, all of a sudden?

"We could make it worth your while," Lucifer wheedled. "I can help you get your guy, Aurielle. He and I go way back."

"And how can you help me to do that from in there?" Aurielle asked him skeptically.

"Maybe, once you bring us the Tablet, I won't have to be in here anymore," Lucifer said slyly.

Aurielle backed up a couple of steps. Surely he couldn't mean what it sounded like he was trying to say.

"We can get out of here, if you bring me that Tablet to read," Metatron said to her.

Aurielle started to shake her head slowly. Freeing Lucifer? She may be a Demon now, but she couldn't even consider doing that. She still thought like the Angel she had once been, in a lot of ways, and that was unthinkable. She ran from the cage in fear, but she ran the wrong way, deeper into the corridor instead of towards the door. In her panic, Aurielle had become disoriented. She tripped and fell onto her hands and knees. Ouch! She looked down at the ground. What had she tripped on?

There was a loose stone on the floor, and her foot must have caught on it. Crowley must not bother too much about maintenance in here, she thought wryly. But the placement of this particular stone looked a little peculiar. It looked slightly different from the others.

Aurielle crawled back to where she had tripped and lifted the stone. There was another layer of stone underneath it. Strange. Then she looked more closely and she realized what she was seeing: it was the stone Tablet she'd been looking for.

She pried it out and held it in her hands, examining it. The ancient language was etched onto it. She could make out the occasional word here and there, but ancient Enochian had never been Aurielle's strong suit, and there were many words here that were foreign to her. Presumably, one of the former board members would have better luck with the translation.

She rose to her feet and carried the Tablet down the corridor, towards the door where she and Freddy had come in. As she passed the cage, she looked down at Freddy's body. Too bad for him, but she couldn't summon up very much sympathy, considering what he'd been prepared to do to her.

"Aurielle," Lucifer said, "please come here."

It was his voice. She turned to the cage and Castiel was standing there, and his eyes were blue and sparkling as he looked at her. He was holding his arms out to her through the bars of the cage.

She automatically took a couple of steps forward, but then she came to her senses. Aurielle might be crazy, but she was not stupid. Apparently, the old saying about the Devil assuming pleasing forms was true.

"Nice try," Aurielle said dryly.

Lucifer was impressed, despite himself. That old trick worked most of the time. Or it unhinged people, at the very least. But he wanted that Tablet, and he wanted it badly. So he changed back to himself and said, "You know who I am, Aurielle. I can give you anything you desire."

She thought about that. "Then why can't you get out of that cage, if you're so powerful?" she retorted.

Metatron laughed at that, and Lucifer turned those red eyes on him when he did. Crap. He probably shouldn't have done that, Metatron thought. He was looking at Aurielle's face, and he just knew she wasn't going to give them the Tablet. She would be gone in a minute, and she would bring the thing back to the former board members to do whatever they were going to try to do with it, and he and Lucifer would be screwed. And now Lucifer would be very angry, and the only one he could take it out on would be the one who had just had a laugh at his expense.

"Do you find something funny, Metatron?" Lucifer asked him coldly.

"No," Metatron said quickly. "No. Nothing funny here."

"They told me about how evil you were," Aurielle said to Lucifer. "You can never be allowed to get out of this cage."

"Oh, but I will get out of this cage," Lucifer said calmly. "And when I do, I have a list of people I will need to visit. And you just made that list."

Aurielle shivered. Great. She'd better tell Lanister to be very careful with this Tablet. She turned on her heel and walked down the corridor, slipping out the open door, and scurried off with the Tablet. No one saw her.

Crowley was already at the crossroads when Castiel and Gail got there.

The Angels were hand in hand, as they had always been before Castiel had become the monster that he had become. Crowley had to restrain himself mightily from rolling his eyes at the sight.

He and Castiel stood facing each other like two gunfighters, sizing each other up before deciding whether or not to draw. Crowley was smirking, and Castiel was eyeing him warily. Perhaps he should not have brought Gail to this meeting. One wrong word from his Brother, and the whole thing could go up in flames.

Then Crowley looked at Gail, a curious expression on his face. She was looking back at him with the doe eyes he had been used to seeing in the past, but they were sharp and clear. What a strange situation their Father had created here. Exactly how much did she remember, if anything? Crowley and Castiel would really have to dance between the raindrops.

"Hello, sweetheart," he said to her. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm fine, Crowley," she answered, surprised by his question.

Courtesies out of the way, Crowley now turned towards Castiel. It was hard for him to even look his Brother in the face now. Castiel had that pious, self-righteous look on his face now, and Crowley could tell that there was not a trace of Demon or other monster left in him. Crowley had always hated that look, but he had ultimately hated his Brother as a Demon, too. In all likelihood, he would probably have hated Castiel in any form; that was just the nature of their relationship. But Crowley resented Castiel even more now, if such a thing was even possible. Once again, their Father had seen fit to absolve Castiel of all of his wrongdoings. Was it any wonder that Crowley couldn't stand him?

"I wanted to ask you about Lanister," Crowley said to Castiel.

"What about him?" Cas asked.

"What's he like?" Crowley inquired.

Castiel frowned. "He's very much like the others. Old-fashioned, strait-laced, big on hierarchy and tradition. He was extremely angry about Gail having killed his son, and he was threatening her when I...when you got him. Why are you concerned about him?"

"Because he's apparently plotting something with the other board members," Crowley replied.

The other board members? Gail was confused. "What do you mean, the other board members?" she asked Crowley.

Crowley glanced at Castiel, who was looking stricken. Then the King of Hell shrugged. Too bad for him. "Xavier and Alexander," he answered her. "Apparently, they're forming an alliance against me."

"Xavier and Alexander?" she echoed. They were in Hell now, too? Last she knew, they were humans, running around somewhere on Earth.

Crowley gave her a thin smile. "That's what I said, sweetheart."

"But, how did you get them?" she persisted.

Crowley looked at Cas again. "I guess life on Earth wasn't very kind to them." He was really enjoying Castiel's discomfort. If she only knew how the former Angels had ended up in Hell. She certainly wouldn't be holding the hand that had killed them right now.

"Apparently, Aurielle has thrown in with them, as well," Crowley continued.

Gail wasn't particularly surprised by that fact, only that it had happened this quickly. Cas had just killed Aurielle, in the cabin. It was a good thing that Bobby had stuck Metatron in Lucifer's cage, or he would probably be the President of their little Hate Club, she thought.

"What do you want from us?" Castiel asked Crowley. As disturbing as the thought of his former colleagues banding together to take over Hell might be, wasn't this Crowley's problem, not Heaven's, or Castiel's?

Crowley regarded him evenly. "I want you to tell me if there's anything to be concerned about here."

Cas frowned. How should he know? "Perhaps," he said vaguely. "As I'm sure you will recall, Xavier was hungry to take the High Office. Since he failed to achieve his goal in Heaven, maybe he's coming after your Office now."

Crowley was seething. Castiel could be right, but Crowley hadn't appreciated that little dig with regard to his own conspiracy with Xavier. Castiel was skating on some very thin ice here. One well-placed phrase from Crowley and his Brother's house of cards would come tumbling down.

Cas also realized that, and he was anxious to conclude this meeting and get Gail away from Crowley, before the temptation to ruin his Brother's life became too much for Crowley to bear. "Was there anything else, then?" Castiel asked, trying to keep his voice steady.

Crowley was looking at Gail, and she saw that he had a strange look on his face, one that she couldn't quite identify. "What?" she asked him.

"Are you happy, my darling?" Crowley asked her.

Are you on crack? Gail wanted to ask him. What the hell kind of question was that, coming from him? She looked at Cas, utterly mystified. But there was no help to be had there. Cas had a strange look on his face too, almost like...fear. But that was ridiculous. What would Cas have to be frightened about? Cas wasn't scared of Crowley; he never had been. Castiel had defeated their enemies in the cabin. Metatron and Aurielle were dead, and Jason was in Heaven's prison. So what was going on here? What was wrong with these two? Was it the fact that the former board members were now conspiring in Hell? She had been a little bit surprised to find out that Xavier and Alexander were now in Hell too, but when she thought about it, she supposed it was not all that surprising. It wasn't too hard to figure out what might have happened on that score. Neither man had been equipped to deal with modern life as humans. They had likely starved to death, or had pissed off the wrong human. It was sad, in a way, but there was no love lost between her and the former board members. And Aurielle was probably feeling bitter that her potion hadn't worked on Cas, and that Cas had killed her, instead of leaving Gail for her. Well, too bad for Aurielle. Maybe Cas was worried about what might happen if their former enemies actually managed to overthrow Crowley somehow. Should she be worried about that, too? Wasn't there a saying; something about the Devil you knew?

Maybe Crowley was looking for gratitude from her for having brought Cas back to life. Had she ever really properly thanked him for that? She couldn't remember. That must be it, then.

"Yes, I'm very happy," she told Crowley. "Thank you for bringing Cas back to us. To me." Gail smiled at Castiel and squeezed his hand. Then she looked back at Crowley. "And thank you for taking all of the Demon out of him. I know that it came in handy at the cabin, but it really didn't belong there. That's not who he is."

Crowley's hands started to curl into fists. Unbelievable. She was talking about his essence as if it were some kind of an infection, or something. Heaven forbid that the sainted Castiel should have some colour added to his personality. Well, she had been the beneficiary of some pretty steamy days and nights because of that very essence, hadn't she? And if her cries of pleasure had eventually turned into cries of pain, well, that wasn't Crowley's fault, it was Metatron's. And Crowley's essence had been one of the ingredients that had contributed to the cure for her precious Castiel in the end, hadn't it?

"Are you sure, sweetheart?" he said through clenched teeth. "Are you sure that 'it' doesn't belong in him?"

Gail shook her head. "Look, I really do appreciate your bringing him back, but we're not on the same team here, Crowley, remember?" she said to him.

Now Crowley felt like he was going to pop a blood vessel. Not very long ago, the three of them had indeed been on the same team, and she had looked at Crowley with more affection than she had looked at his Brother with, at times. Crowley was dying to remind her of that fact, and especially of the time that he had touched her naked body, healing the injuries that her beloved Castiel had inflicted on her. For a brief moment, Crowley had felt evidence of the pleasure that she'd experienced at his touch. He remembered that well, and he wanted her to remember it, too.

"We'll see about that," Crowley snapped. He glared at Castiel. "You owe me now," he said to Cas. "If I need your assistance, you will be there immediately to assist me. And if you are not, our next group conversation will be both very detailed, and very educational." He gave Gail one last look, then he snapped his fingers and disappeared.

Metatron and Lucifer had been bickering for a while now.

"We had he damn thing right here, and you chased her away with the way you talked," Metatron said accusingly.

"Me!?" Lucifer raged. "Castiel wanted her to come to him, and she would have fallen for it, too. But you had to open your big mouth and tell her that we could get out of here if she let you read the Tablet! What kind of a moron does that? She's a former Angel! They've probably been telling her legendary stories about me ever since she was a little girl, complete with warnings about what could happen if I ever did get out of here. Well, I'll make all those tales come true."

"Whatever," Metatron said, rolling his eyes now. He was getting tired of hearing Lucifer talk about himself and his "legend". The Tablet was gone now, and it wasn't coming back.

Lucifer glared at Metatron. Why shouldn't he just kill the little troll, right here and now? Because Lucifer needed him to read the Demon Tablet, that was why. Lucifer's education was sorely lacking when it came to ancient Enochian. And Crowley probably wouldn't allow tutors in here.

"How does the Tablet open this cage, exactly?" Lucifer asked Metatron now.

"I don't remember," Metatron said absently.

"You don't remember?" Lucifer exclaimed.

"That's right," Metatron snapped back. "It was a long time ago, you know. I only remember God putting that clause in there, and I knew how sensitive that information could be, so I encrypted it. I was hoping to at least have a look at it, so I could remember which code I might have used, and then figure it out from there."

Lucifer let out a frustrated breath. So, that was why he couldn't kill Metatron, right there. At least, not yet, anyway. But how the hell were they supposed to get their hands on that Tablet now?

Crowley's hands were shaking with rage as he poured some scotch into the tumbler. He slammed the decanter down on the desk and absently waved his hand when it shattered, instantly repairing it. He had the feeling he would need it again in the very near future, and probably quite often, if he had to have many more conversations like the one he'd just had.

And what had been the point to it all, anyway? What exactly had he learned? Nothing that he didn't already know, or couldn't have guessed for himself. And he had nearly had an embolism from keeping quiet and not blabbing the truth to Gail. So, she was happy, was she? Well, good for her. That would mean that Castiel was too, of course. But his Brother didn't deserve to be happy. He was damn lucky that Gail had put herself through all she had to cure him. If Castiel had ended up here in Hell, Crowley would have run him through every torture room there was, and then done it again and again, just to make a point. God's Golden Boy, with a clean slate once again. Well, Castiel may not be a Demon any more, but he belonged to Crowley now, nonetheless. If he didn't want Crowley to tell Gail anything, or everything, Castiel had better come running, whenever Crowley called.

He sipped at his drink, brooding. What exactly was the threat here in Hell, anyway? How could he find out? Perhaps Crowley should have Castiel speak to the lovely Aurielle. She would probably give up everything there was to his Brother, Crowley thought, with a strange mixture of disgust and amusement.

Charles burst through the office door, panting. "My King," he gasped. "Something - " He tried to catch his breath. "Something - has - happened."

Charles leaned against the door, trying to recover. He had run all the way here as soon as he'd seen.

"What is it?" Crowley demanded.

"The Alpha Wing," Charles breathed, "has been breached."

Crowley looked at him, puzzled. What? Was he even speaking English right now? Then he remembered: Charles was a former military General, who had ended up here because of all the innocent lives he was responsible for sending off to war. And as a military man, Charles frequently talked in code. He had dubbed the area where Lucifer's cage was located "The Alpha Wing".

Crowley stood, alarmed. "Breached?" he asked his assistant. "How so?"

"I was walking by and saw that Freddy was missing from his post, and the door was standing wide open. So I went inside, and I saw Freddy, lying on the floor in front of the cage. He wasn't moving, Sir. I'm pretty sure he's dead. So I left there and ran all the way here, to tell you." His breath had started to come back now. "I pulled the door to the Wing shut, so you won't have to worry about a further breach," he concluded.

Crowley reached into his pocket and pulled out his key. "Let's go," he said.

"So you think the board members are gonna try to take over Hell?" Bobby was asking them.

"I think they might, yes," Castiel mused. He had been thinking about that possibility, and he had concluded that must be what the former board members had in mind.

Bobby was silent. What were the implications here? None of them had any love for Crowley, but what would happen if they were to be successful? Xavier, Lanister and Alexander all had axes to grind. What exactly would be their endgame?

Lanister was turning the Demon Tablet over in his hands, examining it. He could read the ancient language, of course, but there was one passage he saw on the block of stone that was completely nonsensical. It appeared to have been written in some kind of code.

He handed the Tablet to Xavier. "What do you make of this?" He pointed to the clause in question.

Xavier squinted at it, frowning. He didn't know, either. The words translated into English, but they made no sense whatsoever. He read them aloud: "Peon lived, Age C. Life's fluid, naked album cover, Mars and Venus, motorcycle club."

Alexander and Aurielle looked at him, brows furrowed. "Are you sure that's what it says?" Alexander asked him.

"Of course I'm sure!" Xavier snapped.

"Metatron said he could read it," Aurielle told them. "And he said that if he did, Lucifer's cage could be opened."

They all looked at her incredulously. This jumble of words had the power to open Lucifer's cage? Well, if anyone would know, it would be Metatron. He had been God's Scribe at the time of the cage's creation.

"Well, we don't want that to happen," Alexander said briskly. "No one could possibly want that."

"It would hardly be of benefit to us," Xavier agreed. He didn't so much care about letting Lucifer and Metatron loose upon the Earth as much as he cared about what would benefit himself and his colleagues, and getting his revenge on Castiel for torturing him and then putting him here. Sticking it to Crowley in the process would be the sweet icing on the cake. But there had been nothing of benefit to them on the Tablet, not that they had been able to glean.

"But it might," Lanister said slowly.

"Really? How?" Xavier said skeptically.

"I would imagine that Crowley would not want the two of them loosed," Lanister replied thoughtfully. "If anyone would pose a real challenge to Crowley, it would be Lucifer. Perhaps we should talk to our 'King'. Tell him that we are prepared to make some kind of a deal."

"And perhaps we should talk to Lucifer, as well," Aurielle piped up. The men all turned to look at her, astonished.

"And why should we want to do that, my dear?" Xavier asked her condescendingly.

"You know what?" she said to all of them. "I'm getting really tired of your condescension. I'm an equal partner here, though you may not see it that way. And I'm the one who brought you the Tablet in the first place, and I didn't allow myself to be taken in by Lucifer when he tried to persuade me to give it to him! You need to speak to me with respect." She sat back in her chair, fuming.

Lanister sighed inwardly. "All right, my - Aurielle. What do you propose?"

"I think we should talk to both of them," she replied quickly. "And see who can give us the better deal."

Crowley was furious, and he was a little scared, too. He'd just discovered that the Demon Tablet was no longer in the place where he had hidden it. Had the Angels gotten Freddy to open the door and then stolen it? But how would they even know what it was, let alone where it had been?

Crowley waved his hand, and Freddy's vessel burst into flames. Useless twit. Some guard he had been. And one of the Angels had apparently snapped his neck as if it were a twig? Funny, none of them looked that strong, and Crowley didn't think they were quite evil enough to do something like that. He looked at Lucifer suspiciously.

"What do you know about this?" Crowley demanded of him.

"I didn't see a thing, Your Majesty," Lucifer said innocently. Metatron just stood there, grinning.

"And my mother is the Queen of England," Crowley said sarcastically.

"Oh, we all know who your mother is," Lucifer said happily. "The question is, WHERE is she, right, Ferrrgus?" The King of Hell looked at him sharply. Crowley had been wondering about that too, of course. Rowena was being entirely too quiet, and the silence was eerie.

"I might have to look her up when I get out of here," Lucifer continued, and now he was grinning. "She's a bit of a fox, if I might be so bold. She could probably teach me a few things."

Crowley rolled his eyes. If Lucifer thought he was going to get under Crowley's skin by talking trash about his mother, Satan was barking up the wrong tree. His mother WAS trash, and everybody knew it. Crowley himself had been conceived at an orgy, and Rowena had no idea which of the men who had been there had fathered her son. They could all do the math on that one. His mother probably COULD teach Lucifer a few things, especially considering the fact that Lucifer was actually a virgin.

"What do you mean, when you get out of here?" Crowley scoffed.

"Oh, nothing. Never mind," Lucifer said airily.

"What do you two know about the Tablet?" Crowley asked the occupants of the cage. They continued to grin, and he was becoming uneasy now. This was starting to feel like more than just mere game-playing.

"They have it," Metatron told him. "So, if you'll pardon the pun, Heaven help you. Or, I could help you, if you ask me nicely."

So, the former Angels did have it. But what did they plan to do with it? "You?" Crowley asked Metatron. "How could you help me?"

"I can translate it," Metatron said evenly.

Of course! Why had Crowley not thought of that before? He had brought it here to keep it safe until he could figure out how to decipher that last mysterious passage, and Crowley had had the original Scribe here, the whole time.

"That one clause really stumped you, didn't it?" Metatron said happily. He knew that his Brother was pretty adept at reading the language, but that was one reason why Metatron had encrypted that particular passage.

Crowley fumed. He really did want to know what that nonsense was all about. So, the Scribe had gotten cute. But now the Tablet was in the hands of the Angels. Could they figure it out?

"Well?" Metatron said, giving Lucifer a sly glance. Lucifer was holding his breath. Could Metatron fool the King into inadvertently freeing them somehow?

Crowley frowned. He had to think about this for a minute. "I'll get back to you," he said, and walked away.

They were back at the crossroads now, and Bobby was with them.

"What could they do with the damn thing?" Bobby asked Crowley. "Close the Gates of Hell? Why would they want to do that?"

"I don't think that's what they're after," Crowley said to the Angels. "I think this has to do with the mystery passage, the one that makes no sense. I think that Metatron encrypted that one. He told me that he can translate it, but I bloody well understand what the words say. They're just nonsensical."

Gail remembered how Metatron had fancied himself to be the smartest guy in the world. He probably loved knowing something that no one else knew. But why encrypt this particular passage? "Would it be a security issue, maybe?" she mused aloud. "The government does that all the time, if the material's a matter of national security."

Crowley's blood ran cold. "Lucifer was talking some nonsense about what he was going to do 'when' he got out of there. You don't suppose - "

"The passage refers to the opening of Lucifer's cage," Castiel said grimly. His blood was cold now, too. "It has to. Our Father was a big fan of a Plan B, and sometimes, He had a Plan C, as well. It would be just like Him to devise another way to open that cage."

"But why would He want to do that?" Gail asked Castiel.

"I don't know, Gail!" Castiel's panic made him raise his voice involuntarily. The fear was going through him now like a shot of adrenaline. But he saw the hurt come to her eyes. She'd only been asking him a question. He took her hand immediately. "I'm sorry, Gail," Cas said. "I didn't mean to shout at you."

Crowley snorted derisively. Compared to what his Brother had been doing to her not so long ago, a little shouting wasn't so bad. But he had more pressing concerns at the moment. He removed the piece of paper from his pocket. Fortunately, he'd had the presence of mind to record the words when he'd still had the Tablet in his possession. "See if any of you can make any sense out of this," he said, passing the note to Bobby.

"'Peon, lived, Age C'," Bobby read aloud. "Well, those are words, all right. But what the hell do they mean?"

"Is 'peon' referring to a person, maybe?" Gail mused aloud. "A peon being a low-ranking Demon? Maybe it's got something to do with the age they were when they had been alive?" But that didn't feel right to her. She shrugged. "I've got nothing."

"Maybe it's an anagram," Castiel said thoughtfully. "I wonder if we should try rearranging the letters."

"It's worth a shot," Bobby said. He raised his arm, and the letters to the passage appeared above them, illuminated in the night sky. As they all called out their suggestions, he rearranged the letters with one finger. But they worked on it for a while and they were still getting nowhere.

"I think we might be going about this the wrong way," Gail said. "Here, let me see that piece of paper again."

Crowley had put it back in his pocket, but he took it out and handed it to her now. She looked closely at it, then looked up at the letters in the sky. "I think we should try grouping them the same way they're grouped here," she said. "Bobby, put 'Peon' up, and get rid of the rest for a minute."

He obliged, and they all studied the four letters. "Nope," Bobby said.

"Don't give up yet," Castiel said. "We've just started."

Bobby rolled his eyes. "It's an anagram, isn't it? That's a word you can make with the same letters. Well, that's a word, isn't it?" He turned his head away. "Idjit," he muttered under his breath.

Crowley'd heard, and he grinned. Bobby was actually all right, sometimes. "Open," he said. "How about 'Open'?"

Gail nodded. "Sorry, Bobby, but that would probably make more sense. Leave it up there as 'Open', and then put the second group of letters up there, please."

So Bobby rearranged the first group of letters and then put 'Lived' up beside it.

"Devil," Gail said instantly. They all looked at her. "Hey, it is the Demon Tablet," she said, shrugging. "That was the first thing that came to mind."

"Sounds right to me," Bobby said. He rearranged the letters. Now they had "Open" and "Devil". He put up "Age" and "C". "Are these separate things?" Bobby said. "I wouldn't think so. You can't make an anagram out of one letter."

But Castiel and Crowley were staring at the letters, open-mouthed. "Cage," they said simultaneously.

Bobby rearranged the letters, and they all felt the chill when he read" "Open Devil Cage."

"So now we know," Castiel said quietly. He brought Gail's hand up to his face, as she still held the note in her hand. "The rest must be the instructions on how to do it."

"Bloody hell," Crowley breathed. He had to get that Tablet back now, before the former Angels were able to figure out the code. And then, he would destroy the damned thing.

"I have a situation to handle," he told them. Gail moved to hand him back the piece of paper, but he said, "Keep it. See if you can figure out the rest. I have to talk to a few people. Persuade them to see things my way." He gave them a grim smile, and then disappeared.

It was morning now, and Gail was still staring at the piece of paper. She was obsessed with the stupid thing. She'd always liked a challenge, and even though Crowley likely had things well in hand by now, she wanted to figure this out. There was no way that they could ever allow that cage to be opened. Metatron was bad enough; but Lucifer? He was the Devil himself. Gail had never met him, of course, but she knew that he had driven both Sam and Bobby insane. She had seen for herself how bad Bobby was when he had gotten back from there, and Sam had apparently been just as bad, if not worse.

Cas was looking at her. He was terrified, and Gail would be, too, if she had any recollection of having met Lucifer. But she wouldn't remember having met him, either time. That had occurred during the pursuit of Cas's cure, and as far as Gail was concerned, none of that had ever happened. He supposed he was glad that she wasn't as scared as he was right now, though; he was plenty scared, scared enough for the both of them. Even the thought of Lucifer roaming around free was far too horrible to entertain.

Gail looked up from the note, frustrated. "I think we have to call in a ringer," she said to Cas. "Let's go to the bunker and get Sam to weigh in on this."

Cas's heart skipped a beat. She thought that Sam and Dean were at the bunker? This was getting complicated now. It was an extremely bad time for a crisis; it was hard enough, just keeping all of the little deceptions straight.

"Don't you remember?" Cas said lightly. "They're here, on a holiday. In fact, I was about to suggest that we go to their hotel and spend a little time with them this morning, before I have to go to work."

Gail looked at him blankly for a moment, and then she started to smile. "I can't believe I forgot about that. I don't know what the hell is wrong with me. It's this stupid puzzle. It's driving me nuts. Let's go watch Sam and Dean have breakfast, then, and we'll all brainstorm."

Sam and Dean were already in the hotel restaurant when Cas and Gail walked in.

Sam grinned at Cas as Cas pulled out Gail's chair for her, then sat down himself. "Thanks for the invite to the party last night," Sam said. "I had a great time." He was remembering the encounter he'd had with Zoey, of course. Sam had had the best night's sleep he'd had in a long time. At one point, he'd had some kind of weird dream about them all being in Bobby's office in Heaven, and Frank and Jody had been there, too. But Sam just put that down to having recently spent time with all of them during the Demon Tablet and cabin crises. There had been another man there in his dream too, a stranger; but by the time Sam had woken up, he had already forgotten what the guy had looked like, and what exactly had happened in the dream. But he did remember having had sex with Zoey, and that had been nice.

Dean was frowning. He'd been having the same troubles as Cas had, trying to figure out what Sam actually remembered, and what he didn't. Sam was in the same headspace as Gail, apparently; as far as he knew, those incidents with the Demon Tablet and the cabin had just happened, and now he and Dean had come to Vancouver on a vacation, visiting Cas and Gail here, and Sam didn't seem to find that one bit strange.

Party? Gail was thinking. What party? But then she remembered having talked with some of Cas's co-workers, and then leaving the party early so that they could go home and...well, do what they had done. She smiled. That, she remembered very well. Gail couldn't really remember the party all that well, though, which was kind of strange to her. Maybe it was because they had rushed home to do what Angels weren't really supposed to be able to do, something that they had only been able to do when they were humans in Las Vegas. And Gail still had no idea how they had suddenly been able to do it; only that the feeling had apparently come upon them so quickly that she had found her clothes strewn around the bedroom floor this morning. She glanced sideways at Cas. Wow. It was a good thing that Angels didn't blush.

The server brought the brothers their coffee and breakfast, and Gail ordered coffees for herself and Cas, as was her habit. Cas smiled. He had almost forgotten about some of the endearing little quirks she had, throughout the ugliness of what they had all gone through recently. Of course, she had been so busy trying to endure his violence as she pursued the cure for him that she'd had very little freedom to be herself. Well, no matter what they were going to have to face in the future, Cas would make sure that that would never happen again.

Gail showed Sam and Dean the piece of paper with the puzzle on it. "I'm trying to figure this thing out, you guys," she told them. "Crowley gave it to us last night."

As the Winchesters ate, she and Cas explained the events of late last night, and by the time they were up to the attempts to solve the puzzle, both of the brothers had pushed their plates away. Holy crap. Were their friends trying to say that these words that Gail was showing them were actually a formula for opening Lucifer's cage?

"We think so, yes," Cas told them. "But we don't know how concerned we should be about the former board members having access to it."

"I think we should be very concerned," Sam said gravely. He didn't like the pictures that were forming in his head about this. He would never forget his time with Lucifer, and Sam was still very angry that Bobby had been subjected to that same torture. If Lucifer were to somehow get free, none of them would be safe from him.

Dean couldn't believe it. Unlike Sam and Gail, Dean had all of his memories intact. He remembered having met Lucifer when he and Gail had gone there to pry information out of Metatron at the onset of their quest for the cure. At that time, Dean had merely thought of Lucifer as just another dick, but Dean knew they would be very wrong to underestimate him. And, when Cas and Gail had gotten back from Lucifer's cage, they had both looked like death warmed over, and Gail in particular had acted very strangely. Lucifer had driven both Sam and Bobby insane, and everyone knew about his unlimited potential for evil. Crowley had better take care of his business, Dean thought, or they were all screwed.

Crowley was taking care of business, but he was doing it his own way, and the results had so far been negligible.

As soon as he had left the crossroads, the King had gone straight to the snake pit room to confront the former board members.

"I'll give you all exactly five seconds to hand over the Tablet," he'd announced.

Lanister looked at him. "What Tablet? What are you talking about?"

He had to be kidding with this. "Don't even try that with me, Lanister," Crowley said, teeth clenched. "I know you have it, and if I don't have it in my hands in four seconds, you three will have a date with the Torture Master."

The men exchanged glances. There was no way that they were just going to hand the Tablet over to him. Xavier tried to brazen it out. "Say if we did have this 'Tablet'. What would you be prepared to offer us in exchange for it?"

Crowley laughed derisively. "All this time you've been here, Xavier, and you still don't get it. I am the King here, this is my Kingdom, and I make the rules. And now you're down to three seconds."

Xavier was torn now. He didn't want to be tortured, but he didn't want to just hand over the only leverage they had, either. Aurielle had taken the Tablet to her office to try to work on the code, and they really wanted to crack it, so that they would be able to threaten Crowley with whatever it said. Their group was way too small to overthrow the King, and they had naively thought that he would surrender if they threatened him with whatever was hidden by the Tablet's code.

But none of them had ever seen Crowley at the height of his rage, and he had been way overdue for an explosion. "Two seconds," he said, and his eyes began to glow red.

"We'd better give it to him," Alexander said nervously. Xavier and Lanister glared at him. Alexander had always been cowardly. They had all resolved to stick together and present a united front, and here he was, caving at the first sign of adversity.

"One second, now. Oh, wait...I forgot about Daylight Savings Time. Time's up," Crowley said. His tone was cheerful now, but anyone who knew him well would have been extremely nervous. Crowley snapped his fingers, and all three of the men were suddenly transported to the most medieval of torture chambers in Hell. Crowley waved his hand, and the former Angels were now chained to the wall, and they had been stripped naked, for maximum pain and humiliation.

"Go," Crowley said to the Dungeon Master. "Feel free to get as creative as you like."

"How long?" the Demon asked him.

Crowley smiled. "Until I come back and tell you to stop." He looked at the three co-conspirators. "And who knows how long that will be, exactly? I'm a very busy man."

Then he exited the torture room, humming a merry tune.

Aurielle was just as frustrated as Gail was by now. She had been staring at the Demon Tablet for hours, and all she'd gotten was a major case of eyestrain. She had written down the translated words and phrases that Xavier had given her, but they made absolutely no sense to her. Aurielle had always thought of herself as intelligent, but she was clearly out of her depth here. Still, she kept on staring at the words. She had given the men that lecture about being an equal partner, and they had allowed her to take the Tablet to a quiet place where she could try to work out the solution. She wanted to be the one to interpret the meaning of the words; perhaps then, they would take her seriously. But she was going to lose her credibility soon, when she had to go back and admit that she had no clue as to what the significance of these words was. Just what was an "album", anyway?

"Majesty," Aurielle heard someone in the outer office say, and she looked up, panicked. Was Crowley here? He couldn't catch her with the Tablet; if he did, it would be all over. She looked around wildly. Where to hide it?

There was no time to think. Just as she had done with Rowena's spell book in Heaven, Aurielle opened her bottom desk drawer and threw the Tablet into it, covering it up with a few sheets of paper she had not yet filed. Then she closed the drawer and turned to her computer screen, just as Crowley entered her office.

He strode over to Aurielle's desk and sat on one corner of it, staring down at her. His posture was casual, and so was his tone. "How's it going, my pet?" he asked her.

Aurielle made a show of saving a document on the computer in order to give herself a moment, and then she looked at him. "Fine," she said shortly.

"Are we working you too hard?" Crowley asked lightly. "You're looking a little...stressed."

"No, I like to work," Aurielle replied coolly.

Crowley continued to stare at her. "Are you enjoying your social activities here?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," she said.

"No?" he asked. "So you haven't been seeing much of the former Angels, then?"

Aurielle frowned. How much did Crowley know? "Not really," she replied.

"Oh." Crowley was waiting her out now. He could see the tension on her face.

"Well, I run into one of them from time to time, of course," Aurielle said. Crowley's reticence was making her nervous. Exactly as he'd been counting on. But Crowley was getting impatient now.

"And during those casual encounters, did any of them happen to mention a certain stone Tablet?" he asked her.

Aurielle's heart began to beat faster. "No," she said, trying to keep her voice steady.

Crowley continued to regard her. "I could have you tortured, you know," he said, still using his casual tone.

"It wouldn't be the first time," she said testily. "Go ahead, then, if you want. Do your worst." But now her pulse was quickening, as well. Would Crowley send Castiel to her again, maybe? Her lips twitched as she tried not to smile. This could be just the thing she had needed.

Crowley looked at her curiously. Was she trying not to smile? Did she have ice water in her veins? "So you would enjoy being tortured, would you?" he asked her.

Aurielle saw an opportunity. "No, of course not," she retorted. "Especially not if you sent Castiel again. He was horrible." She was planting the idea; would Crowley take the bait?

Crowley's face broke into a smile. Now he got it. "I'm afraid that wouldn't be possible, my dear," he told her. "Angels don't generally visit Hell's torture chambers."

She looked at him sharply. "Yes, that's right," Crowley said. "Your Castiel is a full Angel again. Gail cured him of your disease."

Aurielle's blood boiled. "I gave him no disease! I merely gave him a love potion. And it would have worked, too, if Metatron hadn't ruined it!"

Crowley shook his head slowly. Was this woman that delusional? "So you believe that he would have been yours?" he asked scornfully.

"Of course he would have been," Aurielle said tartly. "He had feelings for me, I know it. You sent him to torture me, but he refused."

Crowley was amused. He was a little surprised that Castiel hadn't tortured her when he'd had the chance, though. She had been one of the architects of Castiel's misfortune, having actually created the doctored potion and poured it down his throat. If there had been no potion, there wouldn't have been anything for Metatron to doctor in the first place. But, although he had teetered on the brink, Castiel had never actually become a full-fledged Demon. He had likely spared Aurielle out of a sense of chivalry, nothing more.

"You're delusional," Crowley told her bluntly.

Aurielle said nothing, but he could see the obstinate look on her face. She really believed in what she was saying.

Crowley waved his hand at the wall, and suddenly, they were looking at Castiel and Gail in bed together. The scene wasn't real, of course; Castiel had placed the customary protections around his apartment in Vancouver now, so Crowley could no more see inside it than he could the bunker, or any of their residences. But the scene depicted pretty much what Crowley had always imagined would go on between those two, and it wasn't far from the truth.

Aurielle watched as Castiel kissed Gail, and she saw them use their tongues with each other. He was on top of Gail, and Aurielle saw that they were both naked. She drank in the sight of Castiel's body; he was perfect, as she'd always imagined him to be. She watched him move down Gail's body, and he opened Gail's legs, then used his tongue on her there. Aurielle was fascinated by what she was seeing. She wasn't a child; though Aurielle had never had sex herself, she was aware of how the basic act was committed. But she had also heard of these additional types of activities, and she had read that some found them very pleasurable. She had even done some research on the subject, on the very computer that was sitting on her desk right now. Obviously, Castiel hadn't wanted to waste his time with a woman who had no experience in this area. From what Aurielle had heard at the tribunal, Gail was very experienced, and very available. She had even communed with Crowley himself. If Aurielle hoped to compete with Gail for Castiel, she needed to pay very close attention to what she was seeing now.

So she peered closer, studying Gail's face. Her rival looked extremely happy. Aurielle pictured herself in the same position with Castiel, and she felt a shiver of excitement.

Then the Angels switched positions, and Aurielle watched, hypnotized, as Gail took Castiel in her mouth. Aurielle had seen this activity in her research, too. It was a little off-putting, but from everything Aurielle had read, the man enjoyed this very much. And it appeared to be true; Castiel's eyes were closed, and he was smiling as Gail continued to tend to him. Aurielle would give anything, everything to be the one who was making him look like that. She watched Gail's method avidly. It didn't look all that difficult. Aurielle was sure that she could learn to do that.

Suddenly, Castiel rolled Gail over onto her back, and he pushed himself into her. Here was the act that Aurielle was familiar with, the one that she'd always been taught was for procreation only. But clearly, that was not all there was to it. Angels did not procreate. It appeared as though they were doing it for pure enjoyment. Aurielle had always been under the impression that it would hurt the woman, but Gail didn't look like she was in pain at all. In fact, she was smiling, and they were kissing each other again. Then, incredibly, Gail wrapped her legs around Castiel's beautiful body, and she appeared to be urging him to go into her even deeper. How could that not be painful? Aurielle wondered. When Gail had been tending to Castiel a moment ago, Aurielle had seen his size, and she had been a little intimidated by it. But if she were to be given the opportunity, Aurielle would welcome the pain, if Castiel could make Aurielle's face look like Gail's did right now.

Crowley snapped his fingers, and the image suddenly disappeared. Aurielle was disappointed; she had really wanted to see what was going to happen next, and she had loved seeing Castiel that way. Aurielle was a Demon now; she could do all of that for him, and more. She had also researched some other activities, and even though he was apparently not a Demon himself any more, she thought that some of them might interest Castiel. Even as an Angel, Aurielle knew that Castiel had dispensed many punishments, and Aurielle could encourage him to inflict some of those punishments on her. She could just bet his precious Gail would not allow him to do those kinds of things to her.

Crowley rolled his eyes. He had been trying to make a point, and he could see now that all he had managed to do was to feed Aurielle's obsession further. Great. She even looked turned on now. What the hell was it about his Brother, anyway?

The King shrugged. His little tactic had backfired, but maybe he could still use what he was seeing on Aurielle's face now. "Bring me the Tablet, and I'll arrange to have him delivered to you," he said softly.

Aurielle looked at him sharply. Could he really do that? But, how could he? Crowley had just said himself that Castiel was an Angel again. No. The King of Hell was trying to trick her.

"I've told you, I don't know anything about any Tablet," she said to him.

Crowley had made an error in judgement. He knew that the former board members were misogynists, as most of the older male Angels were, so he didn't believe that they would actually have allowed Aurielle to take possession of the Tablet. In fact, they might not have even told her about it at all. So he'd come here on a fishing expedition. And it appeared to him that she might actually be telling him the truth.

But, just on the off chance that he could be wrong, Crowley decided to push her just a little bit further. That was when he made his second mistake, and it was a big one.

"If I find out that you're lying to me, I will kill Castiel," he said sternly. "And he is designated for the Netherworld. You will never see him again."

Aurielle's blood turned to ice. How dare he? What business was it of Crowley's if she loved Castiel, anyway? He was in the torture business, not the matchmaking business. "Why do you care so much?" she snarled. "How I feel about him is my business, not yours! I have a lot of work to do." She turned in her chair and stared at the computer screen.

Crowley's eyes flashed red. No one turned their back on him. He reached out and grabbed her face, turning it back towards him.

"You listen to me, my dear," he hissed. "You will never have him. I will see to that, personally. And if you ever turn your back to me again, you will join your friends in the torture chamber, for a good long time."

He released her and stood, wiping the hand he'd grabbed her with on his suit pants, just in case crazy was contagious. "You are my subject," he said to her. "You would do well to remember that. The next time I visit, I won't be such a gentleman."

Crowley stalked out of her office. Aurielle stared after him, astonished. Then she began to shake, with equal parts fear and anger. And people thought that SHE was unbalanced? What was his problem? He must really feel threatened by that Tablet.

If only she could decipher that stupid code. Crowley really needed to be overthrown. Not only was he clearly unstable, but he had now told her that he intended to personally make sure that she would never have her chance with Castiel. And the hope that she still clung to that Castiel might one day be hers was the one thing that Aurielle had left. The only thing.

"'Life's fluid'," Gail said to the Winchesters. "What do you think?"

"Water?" Sam ventured. "Everyone needs that to survive." He grinned at the Angels. "Well, WE do, anyway."

"Beer," Dean quipped, taking a swig of his coffee.

Gail rolled her eyes. "Coffee," she said wistfully, looking at the brothers' cups.

"Blood," Cas said.

They all looked at him. He could be right about that.

Meanwhile, Gail had spotted their server at the next table. "Excuse me?" she said. The woman looked straight through her. Gail shook her head slowly.

Dean turned around. "Could I get a refill, please?" he asked the server, and she came to their table immediately. Gail rolled her eyes again. It figured.

As the girl gave the men refills, Dean smirked and said, "What did you need there, Gail?"

She glared at him. Now the server was smiling at Cas. "Do you need anything?" she asked him. "You haven't had anything to eat at all. I can get you whatever you'd like."

Gail was doing the slow burn. Oh, no, she couldn't.

Cas smiled at the girl. "I'm fine, thank you."

He certainly was, the server thought. Then Gail blurted out, "I need a pen." That was what she had been trying to get the girl's attention for in the first place.

The server looked at Gail blankly.

"It would really help us out," Sam added. The girl looked at him, then she reached into her pocket and handed Sam a pen. "Thanks," he said, then he sat back in his chair and looked at Gail, grinning, as the girl left their table.

"Really?" Gail said incredulously. "Really? Since when did I become invisible?"

The brothers laughed. That had been pretty funny.

Cas smiled, and Gail turned to look at him. "What are you smiling about?" she said to him, frowning.

"Nothing," Cas said quickly, but he was still smiling, which made Sam and Dean laugh even harder.

Gail sighed, and she jerked the pen out of Sam's hand. That was what she got for hanging around with such good-looking guys. But her lips started to twitch, too. "Shut up, you guys," she said, trying not to smile now. That was OK; other girls could look all they wanted. Sam and Dean were her best friends, and Cas? He was still smiling, and she felt his hand touch her thigh under the table. "You're not invisible to me," he told her, his blue eyes sparkling.

"Nice save," Gail said, and now she was smiling. She leaned towards him and kissed him on the cheek, and his hand squeezed her leg for a moment.

Dean cleared his throat. "What did you want the pen for, Gail?"

Right. They needed to focus. She tore her eyes away from Cas and looked at Dean. "I want to write down what we're guessing," she said. "Maybe if we see a few things together on paper, they'll start to make sense."

Sam nodded. "That usually helps," he agreed.

Gail wrote down "Blood", then "Water?".

"What's the next phrase?" Sam asked.

Gail glanced at the paper. "Naked cover," she said, shaking her head. What a weird phrase. She smirked. "That sounds like it might be in your wheelhouse, Dean," Gail quipped. "What do you think?"

Dean smiled. "I think I'm flashing back to a few girls I used to know," he replied. "The mental pictures alone...give me a sec, Gail."

She shook her head again. What a smartass. "Sam?" she asked.

He frowned in concentration. "Sounds almost like an oxymoron, or an antonym. Naked/covered?"

Now Cas was shaking his head. Sam was on the right track, in a way, but: "Remember, Metatron transcribed the Demon Tablet, and he was the one who put this into code, I'm sure," he said to them.

"So?" Dean said.

"I think it's a literary, or pop culture reference, then," Cas said thoughtfully. "Look at it again, Gail."

She looked down and saw her mistake. "Sorry. It says 'naked ALBUM cover'. I can't believe I missed that. I've been studying the stupid thing half the night."

"Too preoccupied? Worrying about our server wondering if Cas is hungry, maybe?" Sam teased her.

Cas and Dean exchanged a glance, as Gail made a face at Sam. Not so long ago, that innocent comment would have had a much different, and ugly, connotation attached to it. Cas frowned as Dean regarded him with a cool expression. I'm not that guy any more, Cas communicated to Dean non-verbally. I know, Dean's gaze said, but just remember, I remember, too.

"Naked album cover?" Sam repeated. "I don't really know much about albums. A bit before my time. Cas?" he teased.

Cas looked away from Dean, off into the distance. "Naked album covers," he recited, as if reading from Google. "There are somewhat surprisingly many; over a hundred, I believe. Including those by modern recording artists such as Katy Perry, Prince, and Whitesnake."

Sam and Dean exchanged glances, amused. Had Cas actually just said the name of the heavy metal band Whitesnake?

Cas continued, "But, arguably, the most notorious one is 'Two Virgins', by John Lennon and Yoko Ono."

Gail was impressed. It was funny, how they ran into these pockets of knowledge in Cas's brain once in a while. He had quoted both Shakespeare and urban slang to her, yet he seemed so innocent in other ways. That was one of the many quirks that she loved about him. You just never quite knew what you were going to get.

"That's gotta be it," Sam said. "'Two Virgins'. Write it down, Gail."

She did, and then she crossed out the word "Water".

Dean frowned. "The blood of two virgins. That sounds about right. Unfortunately."

Gail was afraid that Dean was right. Oh, God. This did not sound good at all.

Crowley went back to his office and had a leisurely drink, thinking about his conversation with Aurielle. Then he thought about the former board members. One of them had the Tablet, he was sure of it. The question was, what did they intend to do with it? He knew they could all read the ancient language, as he could, but Metatron had made sure to encrypt the vital passage, using his own form of language. And who the hell could figure out how that guy's mind worked?

Presumably, one or more of the former Angels had had enough torture by now, and would be ready to give up the Tablet. If not, Crowley would just have to step up his efforts. He would tear Hell inside out looking for it, if necessary. And then he supposed he had better destroy the damn thing. It would be a shame to do it, in a way. The Tablets dated back to Creation, and they were ancient artifacts now. As far as Crowley knew, the Angel Tablet had already been destroyed. So, if he were forced to destroy the Demon Tablet, that would be both of them gone. A damn shame, really. There should be a museum somewhere, where all of those kinds of things could be exhibited and admired, for generations to come.

The only problem was, there were many who were not satisfied merely to gaze upon such items as the Tablets; they wanted to use them to further their own ambitions. So, Lanister, Xavier and Alexander wanted to overthrow him, did they? He wished them luck with that; he really did. There was nothing they could do to him, even if they had the Tablet; he just didn't want them to have it. They certainly couldn't close the Gates of Hell from within Hell itself, and there would be no advantage to them in opening Lucifer's cage, even if they did manage to figure out Metatron's code. Lucifer had no aspirations to rule Hell; Crowley was sure of it. Lucifer just wanted his freedom. And Metatron? Who the hell knew what he wanted? Did he even know himself, anymore? Crowley didn't care for the prospect of those particular two Brothers loosed upon the Earth, but realistically, if they were to be set free, both the human race and the Angels would likely have a lot more to worry about than Crowley himself would.

He wondered how the Angels were doing on the code. Only one way to find out, he thought. He sent the message.

Cas got the message just as they were working on the third phrase. He frowned in distaste. He didn't mind getting calls on Angel Radio, but having Crowley's voice in his head was a whole other matter. But he supposed he would have to keep that frequency open now. If anything were to happen in Hell with regard to Lucifer's cage, either he or Bobby would need to be informed of it immediately.

Crowley was asking him if they had managed to decipher any of Metatron's code, and Gail, Sam and Dean were also talking at the same time. Cas held up his hand. Too many voices at once.

"What's wrong?" Gail asked him. She had seen his gesture.

"Crowley wants to know how we're coming on the code," Cas told them.

"What are we, working for him, now? Tell Bobby to tell him not to get his panties in a bunch," Dean grumbled. No one realized that the message had come right from Crowley, and Cas didn't feel the need to clarify.

Sam and Gail had their heads together, and they were tossing out ideas.

"Mars and Venus," Sam said. "Planets."

"Something about their positions in proximity to Earth, maybe?" Gail asked him.

"No, I don't think so," Sam replied. "Metatron's not a science guy, he's a words and literature guy."

Crowley was still nattering on in Castiel's head, and Cas was trying to listen to their conversation at the same time, because it sounded like Sam and Gail were on to something. Cas made a sound of frustration.

"He won't stop talking," Cas told them. "I'll be right back." He told Crowley to go to the crossroads, then Cas gave Gail a quick kiss on the forehead and rose from the table. He walked to the mens' washroom, entered a stall, and vanished.

"The blood of two virgins," Crowley mused aloud.

"That's what we've got so far," Castiel told him. "There are two more phrases. We were working on the third when you called. We should have the solution soon, at this rate."

"Call me when you have it," Crowley said tersely.

Castiel looked at him coolly, then he remembered Dean's comment, and his lips twitched.

"What's so funny?" Crowley asked him irritably.

"Nothing," Cas said. "I have to get back now. And stop calling me. I'll let you know when we have it, or I'll have Bobby call you."

Crowley shook his head. Castiel was unbelievable. With all of the nonsense that his Brother had pulled recently, he still had that superior tone of voice. As if Crowley were here to serve him, and not the other way around.

"Look," Crowley said. "I still don't think you quite understand your position, here. I meant it when I said that you're at my beck and call now. If you don't want Gail to find out about everything you did, you will turn up when I say so, and you will lose the attitude, too."

Castiel was starting to get angry now. "I don't appreciate being blackmailed," he told Crowley, bristling at what the King of Hell was saying.

"I don't care," Crowley said cheerfully. "The fact remains: you are mine, now."

Cas strode up to Crowley and faced him. "I'm no one's," he said in his quiet tone. "Least of all, yours. I'm only here because none of us want Lucifer's cage to be opened."

"I would think you should be more worried about that than me," Crowley said evenly. "Lucifer hates you, and he was looking at Gail like she was a seven-course meal when we were at the cage."

Castiel's flesh began to crawl. Crowley was right. When they had gone to see Lucifer and Metatron to get their essences for the cure, Gail had taunted Lucifer about the fact that he talked a big game, but he had never actually had sex before. Lucifer had made crude comments about using her to remedy that situation, and they had not taken him that seriously because there was nothing that he could do about it where he was. But, what if he were to get out?

"What are you going to do if we do solve the code?" Cas asked Crowley. Suddenly, he was suspicious. Should they really be telling the King of Hell how the cage could be opened, assuming that they figured it out?

Crowley saw the way Castiel was looking at him. "I'm going to destroy the bloody Tablet, that's what," he snapped. "It's a menace. And I'm not going to release Lucifer. Why would I want to do that? Once he's done with you two, he'll be coming for me, next."

Castiel considered this. It was true; Lucifer hated them all equally. He couldn't see an upside in Crowley releasing Lucifer, either. So he said, "All right, Crowley. We'll let you know. I've got to get back." He was agitated now. They had to figure out that code. At least if they knew what was required to open the cage, they might be able to prevent it from happening. Until that was accomplished, and the Tablet was destroyed, he didn't want to let Gail out of his sight for a second.

Crowley knew what his Brother was thinking, and as angry as he was at Castiel, Crowley softened a bit now. "Don't worry. We won't let anything happen to her," he told Cas. "Even I'm not that evil." And with that, he snapped his fingers and disappeared.

Cas returned to the table, and Gail smiled at him. "I was about to send you a message," she said. "We've almost got it figured out, we think."

"Mars and Venus?" Cas asked. That was what they had been working on when he'd left for his meeting with Crowley.

"We think that refers to the book about men being from Mars and women being from Venus," Sam told him.

"So, if it's as simple as that, it's the blood of two virgins that will be required, and it's got to come from one man, and one woman," Gail said.

"And the last phrase is?" Cas asked her.

"'Motorcycle club'," Gail replied, looking at the piece of paper.

"Hell's Angels," Dean said immediately.

They all looked at each other. Gail wrote that down. "That has to be it," she said. "The blood of two virgins, one man and one woman, who are former Angels, now residing in Hell," she recapped.

Castiel frowned. "Aurielle, and one of the former board members," he said. "But, which one?"

"Well, we know that Lanister's not a virgin," Gail said, making a face. "He had a son." Who she had murdered, she thought, but did not add.

Cas saw her expression, and he reached out to take her hand. He gave it a brief squeeze as she looked at him appreciatively. That still bothered her, though she still felt like she'd had no choice at the time.

"So it's one of the other two guys, then?" Dean asked them.

"I guess so," Cas mused. "But, what about their blood? They can't get into the wing where the cage is located. It's a secure area. Only Crowley can get in there." And while that wasn't technically and completely true, it would do, for the purposes of this conversation. He needed to be careful not to mention anything about Dean, Gail, or himself all having been there. Sam and Gail had no recollection of those incidents.

Cas gave Dean a look, and Dean got it.

But Sam was puzzled. "How could Metatron have written about anything like that, way back when?" he asked the group. "That sounds more like a prophecy to me. But, it's incomplete. Are you sure that's all there was, Gail?"

"Yeah, that's it," she replied. "That's all Crowley gave us, anyway."

"The question is, should we tell him about this?" Dean asked them all, but he was looking at Cas.

"I don't see the harm," Cas responded. "He doesn't want that cage opened any more than we do." Then he smiled grimly. "But, we tell Bobby, first." Actually, that was a better-case scenario for Castiel, anyway. Let God decide what to do here. Cas had had a history of bad decisions, which continued to this day. Better that he didn't attempt to make that call himself.

"We sure picked one hell of a time to go on a holiday," Sam said, grinning ruefully.

"Is there ever a good time, Sammy?" Dean groused. "Is there ever a good time?"

But there was nothing further the brothers could do at the moment. Cas and Gail were going to go to Heaven and see Bobby, to tell him what they believed they had figured out, and find out what Bobby wanted to do about it.

The Angels said their goodbyes, and Cas promised to call them with any news. Dean grabbed his wallet to pay for breakfast, and the piece of paper with Nicole's number fell out. He looked at it for a moment, then turned to Sam.

"Wanna give the girls a call, see what they're doing?" Dean asked.

Bobby had mixed emotions. He was God now, the Supreme Being supposedly, but he also felt some very human fear and trepidation at the possibility that Lucifer might be able to get out of that cage. And he was also livid.

"So you're telling me that this thing has been on the Demon Tablet this whole time, and we're just finding out about it now?" he fumed.

"Yes," Castiel said simply. There was nothing else he could say, really.

"Well, what are we supposed to do about it?" Bobby said, frustrated.

"We were hoping YOU would know," Gail told him.

"Well, I don't," Bobby said, frowning. Then he sighed heavily. "I guess I'd better give Crowley a call."

He picked up the Hotline, and when Crowley answered, Bobby told him what the Angels and the Winchesters believed the passage on the Tablet meant.

"Well, as hard as it would seem to find two virgins in Hell, it sounds like they have it," Crowley said dryly. "I'm about to find out which of your former employees is the most eager to tell me where the Tablet is. Then I'll destroy it. And I'm going to put some extra security on that door, too. So, easy peasy. Nothing to be concerned about."

Bobby wasn't convinced that was true, but there was nothing he could do about it. Hell was Crowley's domain. They would just have to trust that he could handle the situation.

"Let me know if there are any further developments," Bobby said, and he hung up the phone, turning to the Angels.

"There's nothing we can do now but wait, I guess," Bobby told them, after informing the couple what Crowley had said.

Castiel was frowning, but he knew his Brother well, and so he knew that Crowley would stop at nothing in his bid to ensure that the threat was nullified. He would be having the three former board members tortured right now, for however long it took for one of them to cave and give Crowley the Tablet. Obviously, the former Angels had not been able to solve Metatron's code. Castiel supposed the threat would be negated now.

"Do you need us for anything else, Bobby?" Cas asked him. "If not, I have to get going."

"You have to get going?" Bobby asked him. "Where?"

"I have to shoot a big fight scene this morning," Cas told him.

Bobby's beard twitched. "You have to shoot a fight scene," he echoed. "Oh, well, far be it from me to get in the way of classic television."

Gail smiled. It was certainly an unusual situation. She couldn't quite remember how Cas had gotten his old job on the show back, but the fact was that he had, and she had been enjoying living with him here in Vancouver after their recent ordeal at the cabin. The incongruity of this didn't seem to bother her, although it really should have. How could they just suddenly be living in Vancouver, and how could Cas already be several shows into the new season when they had just escaped from their enemies in the cabin? How could she and Cas have suddenly been able to make love as full Angels, when they never could before? And what was up with the weather on Earth, all of a sudden? It seemed a lot more summery, somehow, though they should just about be into winter, now. She shook her head, as if to clear her brain. It must be the stress of recent events. But everything was fine now; she and Cas were very happy. Sam and Dean were in town visiting them, and it sounded like Crowley had things well in hand. So what could she possibly have to worry about?

Cas had just finished shooting his scene, and Sam and Dean were watching as Zoey helped him remove his makeup, and Nicole was hanging up his trenchcoat, suit jacket, and tie.

"How many trenchcoats are there here?" Sam said, running his hand along the clothes rack.

"I don't really know," Nicole said. "About twelve of them, I guess."

"Well, of course there are," Sam said, grinning. "Regular, everyday wear, and formal," he quipped.

Gail smiled. She was watching Zoey deftly removing the makeup from Cas's face.

"All done, Cas," Zoey said, handing him a towel to wipe his face with. Then he got up from the chair, thanking Zoey, and he leaned down to kiss Gail. That was what she had been waiting for, of course.

"So you're done for the day?" Dean said. He had been grabbing tubes of makeup from the table and examining them. He'd even sniffed a couple. He couldn't believe that Cas wore this goop on his face. You would think it would be hard to fight like a man when you were wearing makeup all over your face. But Cas had managed it. Dean was actually really impressed with his friend now. Not that he would tell him that, of course. It must be nice to be catered to by these girls all the time. Lucky Gail wasn't the jealous type.

Brenda was bringing Cas his own clothes now, and he took them from her and thanked her. She saw a spot of makeup on his chin that Zoey had missed, and she reached up to wipe it away with her hand.

Cas pulled back from her. "What are you doing?"

"You have a spot of makeup," Brenda said innocently.

"Next time, just tell me," Cas said, frowning. He turned back to the mirror and rubbed his chin with the towel.

"Sor-ry," Brenda said sarcastically. What was his problem? He let Zoey and Nicole touch him all the time.

Gail looked at Brenda, and then she looked at Cas. Gail thought she knew what was going on here. Cas was still frowning, and he seemed to be taking a lot longer than was needed to remove a spot of makeup. "I'll take it from here, ladies," Cas said. "Thank you for your help today."

Brenda got it. They were being dismissed; Saint Gail was here.

Gail went to Cas and took the towel from his hand. "I think you've got it now," she told him. He smiled at her, and then he put his arms around her waist and kissed her on the mouth. "I'll get dressed, and then I'll meet you outside," Cas told her. "In the meantime, think of what you'd like to do today."

Gail touched his face. She knew what she'd really like to do today, but since Sam and Dean were here, she supposed that particular activity would have to wait until later tonight.

Brenda rolled her eyes. Cas was obviously trying to make a point here. Brenda knew that he had a girlfriend; she'd just been trying to help him out. He didn't need to get so bent out of shape over an innocent little touch.

But Cas knew that Brenda liked him, and that she liked him a little too much. He didn't mind the other two girls helping him because he knew they didn't have any interest in him other than as a co-worker. But Brenda was another matter. She actually reminded him of Aurielle, a little. She was always looking at him, and it seemed like she was always creating a lot of opportunities to touch him. Even when he and Gail had been living apart, Cas had made it quite plain that Gail was his mate, and he had talked a lot about her whenever Brenda was around, hoping that she would get the message. But either she hadn't gotten it, or she didn't care. Her trying to touch his face today in front of Gail had really upset him. Maybe he should ask Sam and Dean for their advice on how to get Brenda to stop.

They all trooped out of the trailer to give Cas the opportunity to change his clothes. Brenda looked at Gail for a moment, and then she walked off. Gail looked after her curiously. Was she supposed to feel bad for Brenda now? Well, she didn't. Gail could have told Brenda that Cas didn't like any other female to touch his face like that. Removing his makeup was one thing, but Gail knew that Brenda's attempted touch was a different thing altogether. Oh, well. Too bad for her.

"I have an idea," Zoey said. "It's the last official day of summer, and we have the rest of the day off now. What do you say we all go to the fair?"

Gail and Sam exchanged puzzled glances. What did she mean, it was the last day of summer? Wasn't it almost winter now?

Dean saw their look, and he had to refrain himself from rolling his eyes. Of course they would be confused. They had no memory of the winter from hell. God had done His big reset, and then he had left Cas and Dean holding the bag. Bobby, too. What a weird situation.

"I think that's a great idea," he said. Maybe if he ignored it, they would just accept it, just as they had accepted Cas's working on the TV show. "I haven't eaten nearly enough fried foods lately. Do you like scary rides?" he asked Nicole.

"The scarier, the better," she told him, smiling. She'd love to go on some rides with Dean. It would give her a good excuse to grab him. He and Sam were supposed to leave town in a couple of days, and even though she'd been annoyed that she still hadn't gotten to know much of anything about him, Dean was hot, and she was only human.

Cas came out of the trailer and took Gail's hand. "So, what are we all doing today?" he asked them.

"We're going to the fair," Nicole told him.

The fair? Cas's blood ran cold for a moment. He remembered when he had been there last. It had not really been a very positive experience, for the most part. But this was different, wasn't it? Of course it was. And he had really wanted to go to the fair with Gail; now it seemed that he would be given that chance.

"OK," Cas said. "Lead on, ladies."

They'd been having a great time, but the day was turning hot now, and Dean wanted to go to the beer garden.

"We can drink any time," Zoey protested. "I want to go to the midway."

"So do I," Nicole said. She looked at Dean. "Tell you what. You guys go have a cold one, and us girls will go to the midway. Maybe we'll play some games, or something. Then you can come and find us when you're done."

"Sounds good to me," Dean said. He put one hand on Sam's arm and the other on Cas's. "Let's go." He started to steer them away as the girls grabbed Gail, doing the same with her.

Cas looked back at Gail, and she shrugged. "Go," she told him, smiling. "We'll see you in a bit."

Cas let Dean lead him to the beer tent, but he was troubled. He just didn't want Gail to go to the midway, for some reason. But why? What harm could it do?

Zoey and Nicole were laughing. "And then he put his hand on the guy's forehead, and he just looked at him, like he was expecting something to actually happen! The director had to cut the scene, because Cas wouldn't move. It was hilarious!" Zoey was telling Gail. "They had to explain to him that the black stuff wasn't going to actually come out of the guys' mouth; it would be CGI'ed in later."

Gail smiled. Apparently, Cas reverted back to himself at times when shooting an exceptionally realistic scene. She could just picture him, waiting for the actor's Demon essence to come issuing out of his mouth, just like it would have done in real life. What a cute and funny story.

She liked these girls. They had been warm and friendly to her, and they had been telling her stories about Cas on the set that had both amused her and made her feel proud of him. Everyone there obviously adored him, and she knew that he had been doing a really good job.

Zoey and Nicole exchanged glances. They had been trying to find out more about Gail, but she was proving to be just as inscrutable as the men. They had asked her how she and Cas met, and she'd merely told them that Sam and Dean had introduced them. They had asked her where she'd been, and she had looked at them, puzzled by the question. What did they mean, where had she been? Right here, of course. What a weird thing to ask her. Just because she didn't come traipsing down to the set every day, that didn't mean that she and Cas had ever been apart.

"OK, here's something we've got to do," Zoey said, pointing to the fortune teller's tent. She grabbed Gail's hand. "Come on, let's find out when you and Cas are going to get married, so I can start saving for a dress," she teased.

Gail was amused. A fortune teller? Too bad she didn't have her powers any more. Then maybe she could have read the fortune teller, instead. It was kind of cute what Zoey had said about her and Cas getting married, though. God had told them that they could consider themselves married if they so chose, but she and Cas had never had that conversation. They had just continued on living together, as if they were. Had she been cheated out of a wedding day, here? She would have to tease Cas about that. She definitely wasn't going to be cheated out of a honeymoon, though; not if their activities last night were any indication of what lay ahead in their future. Maybe she should ask the fortune teller about that, she thought mischievously.

Oliver looked up as the girls entered the tent. Another group of giggly fair girls, he thought, wanting to know which guy had a crush on them, and when they would get married. Ever since Marjorie had left this morning to pack her things for school, that was all he had gotten. What a waste of his talents. But none of these summer kids ever wanted to hear anything real.

His eyes widened as he looked up and saw Gail. What the hell was SHE doing here? She was with two human girls, and they were all smiling and laughing, as if they were friends. Didn't those girls know who and what she was?

Zoey gave Gail a gentle push. "You go first."

Gail shrugged. What the hell. This could be fun. Maybe he'd tell her that she had a truly heavenly relationship, or that she was a very spiritual person. She and Cas could have a good laugh about it later.

But as she sat down across from the fortune teller, Gail was a little taken aback by the expression on his face. He looked almost like he was scared of her, or something. Could he be a real psychic? Did he know that she was an Angel? Maybe this hadn't been such a good idea after all.

She turned to stand up, intending to tell one of the girls that she was nervous, and maybe one of them should go first. But Oliver grabbed her by the hand.

"Is your boyfriend here with you?" he asked her. "How about your other 'friends'?"

Why would he want to know that? "These ladies are some of my friends," Gail retorted, trying to take her hand away. "And yes, he's here at the fair."

"He needs to die," Oliver said. "And so should you. I'm actually surprised he hasn't killed you yet."

Gail wrenched her hand away from his and stood up. "What is wrong with you? You're crazy!" she exclaimed.

Zoey and Nicole looked at each other with wide eyes. This guy WAS nuts. Maybe he was trying to play a role, be all dramatic, or something. But the fair needed to fire him. You couldn't just go saying that kind of stuff to people.

"In fact, I'll do the world a favour right now," Oliver said. He reached into the pocket of his costume robe. He had carried the weapon with him constantly ever since he had fled the States, just on the off chance that he ever ran into any of them again.

He pulled out the gun and pointed it at Gail's chest.

Cas was extremely agitated now. Dean had just finished his second beer, and it looked as though he was contemplating ordering another.

Sam was amused by Cas's expression. "Come on, Cas. You live together. You see her every day." He finished his own beer. "But on the other hand, we won't be able to see those girls for much longer. Come on, Dean. I'm looking forward to having Zoey grab me when I take her on the roller coaster." Then he stood up, so Dean wouldn't have a chance to change his mind.

Cas stood too, glad of Sam's support. Cas had a funny feeling about Gail on that midway now. He should not have let her go without him.

Dean sighed, and he got up, too. He supposed they were right. He also wanted to take Nicole on some rides.

As they entered the midway, though, the booth Cas had played at before caught his eye. The brothers bumped into him when he stopped abruptly. Cas looked up at the prizes. They were still there: the stuffed moose and the stuffed squirrel. He'd really wanted Gail to have them because he knew how much she would love them, but when he'd had to send her and Sam back, the plush toys had disappeared from her room. Because the time had reset, Cas had never won them for her. But Cas remembered having won them for her before, and he really wanted to do so again.

"Just a minute," he said to the brothers, and he stepped up to the booth.

Cas remembered how the game was played, and he also remembered that the game was rigged in the carnival's favour. So he apologized mentally to Bobby again, and he used his Angel power to knock the bottles over right away. Then he purposely missed with the next two balls, and then he paid for an additional set of baseballs.

"I'll make you a deal," he told the young man who was running the game. "If I can make the shot three times in a row with these three balls, you will give me two prizes of my choosing."

The carny looked at him. There was no way this guy was going to be able to do that. He'd just gotten lucky that first time. "Sure," he said, handing Cas the baseballs. "Go for it."

Cas wound up and threw the ball, knocking the bottles over, and then he did it again. The carny gave him an incredulous look, and Cas smiled at him. "I guess it's just my lucky day," Cas said innocently.

Dean and Sam were smirking. They knew that these kinds of games were fixed, and Dean had been just about to warn Cas of that fact. But Cas obviously knew, and he was using his Angel juice to get around that fact. That might not be strictly legit, but neither was the game, and their friend had never exactly been a stickler for rules, anyway.

"I'll tell you what," Cas said to the young man. "I'm feeling extremely lucky today. I have a proposition for you. If I miss this last shot, you don't have to give me anything. I'll just walk away. But if by any chance I do make it, you will give me my two prizes, and you will give each of my friends here one prize of their choosing, as well." He gestured to Sam and Dean.

The carny thought about that. This guy had made an impossible shot three times now. But he had also missed, twice. He figured he could risk it.

"You're on," he said to Cas.

Cas wound up and threw the ball. Two of the bottles flew off the pedestal, and the last one teetered. He hadn't used any Angel power on this one; he'd been curious to see if he could actually do it without the extra help. But the third bottle was obviously very heavily weighted, and it was going to right itself in a moment. So Cas discreetly waggled his little finger, and the last bottle fell off the stand.

Sam and Dean were grinning now, and their smiles grew even wider when Cas got the young guy to reach up and get the plush toys. The stuffed animals were huge; Gail would need help carrying them home. Then the brothers picked out one huge stuffed animal each for Zoey and Nicole.

They left the booth and walked down the midway, looking left and right for the girls. Would they ever be surprised. But the men didn't see them anywhere, and they had almost reached the end of the midway now. Where were they?

Zoey screamed as Oliver pointed the gun at Gail. Was this guy a psychopath, or something? She had never seen a real gun before; maybe it was a prop, like the ones they had on the show. Were they being filmed for one of those prank shows, maybe?

The gun didn't worry Gail, of course, at least not for her own sake. She couldn't be killed by a gun. But what if he turned the gun on the other girls?

"Zoey, Nicole, leave the tent, now," Gail said quietly.

Oliver thought that was a fine idea. This was between him and Gail. He had no desire to hurt any humans. He could see the way that she was looking at him, with scorn in her eyes. But this was no ordinary gun. He had carved pentagrams into the bullets, and they were infused with brimstone. This Demon bitch was going to die, all right, and she was going to die painfully.

"Run, Zoey," Nicole said. "Go get the guys, quick!"

Zoey turned and ran out of the tent. She bumped into Sam coming around the corner. The men had heard her scream, and they'd rushed in the direction of the sound.

"Come quick!" Zoey panted. "He's going to kill Gail!" She ran back to the tent, with Cas on her heels. He'd dropped the plush toys and had automatically reached into his jacket for his blade, but of course, he didn't have it. He couldn't bring it on a social outing with his friends from the show; if one of them were to see it, it would be too hard for him to explain.

They burst into the tent, and Oliver smiled grimly when he saw Cas. Terrific. Two Demons for the price of one. The humans would thank him.

"Oliver?" Sam said.

Gail turned to look at him. Sam knew this guy?

And Sam did, of course. Oliver was a psychic that Sam had consulted on a couple of occasions. But why would he be pointing a gun at Gail? The two of them had never even met. Sam had no recollection of any seances having been held at Oliver's house regarding the cure, of course. That whole block of time had been wiped from his and Gail's minds.

Cas and Dean exchanged glances. They remembered everything, all too well. Oliver obviously thought that Gail was still a Demon. But why would he think that a gun would threaten her?

"Special bullets," Oliver said, looking at Cas. He waved the gun. "Which of you wants to go first?"

"I will, of course," Cas said, moving forward to step in front of Gail. "But you're wasting your time. We're not who you think we are."

"No?" Oliver said sarcastically. "Well, you won't mind if I don't take your word for it." Then he shot Cas in the chest.

Both Zoey and Nicole screamed. But something really strange happened. Cas stayed on his feet, and incredibly, he was smiling. "I told you not to waste your time," he said to Oliver.

Oliver shot Cas again, and then again, but Cas still remained standing. He looked down at himself. "You've ruined my shirt," he quipped.

Gail's lips twitched despite the seriousness of the situation. "Come on, guys, let's go," she said, moving to shepherd their human friends out of the tent. Cas could deal with this lunatic. She just wanted to get the Winchesters and the girls safely away before the nutbag turned his gun on them.

"You're not going anywhere, Elvira," Oliver said, pointing the gun back at her.

Dean smirked, but then he realized he'd better stop. This was still a serious situation. He and Sam had to get the girls out of this tent. He grabbed Nicole's arm and propelled her out of the tent, and Sam did the same with Zoey.

"What the hell was that?" Zoey exclaimed. "What's wrong with that guy? Bringing a prop gun here, scaring us half to death? We've got to tell somebody about him!"

Sam and Dean were relieved. She thought it was a fake gun, like the ones they used on their show. Good. They wouldn't have to search for an explanation as to how Cas could have been shot point-blank several times, yet still be OK.

But Nicole was frowning. "No, that's a real gun, Zoey. I can tell the difference." She turned to Dean. "Are you just going to leave your friends in there with that guy? What's the matter with you?" She reached into her purse for her cell phone as Dean looked at her. If she only knew. Oliver was with the only two members of their group who he couldn't hurt, no matter how many bullets that gun held.

Nicole pulled out her phone. "I'm calling 9-1-1," she said.

"Don't," Dean said to her, and she looked at him, incredulous. "What do you mean, don't?" Nicole retorted.

"I mean, don't," Dean replied. "They're gonna be fine. He can't hurt them."

Nicole looked at Zoey. Was she hearing this, too? "He's got a gun, Dean!" Nicole yelled.

"Not so loud," Dean said to her, looking around to see if anyone had overheard.

"You're gonna tell me what's going on right now, or I swear to God I'm going to belt you one," Nicole seethed.

Dean looked at Sam for guidance, but Sam shrugged. They had to say something. But what could they say that these girls would believe?

Cas was having his own problems. He needed to get Oliver calmed down, but he also needed to get Gail out of this tent before Oliver said too much.

"You have nothing to fear from us," Cas said, holding his hands up in supplication.

But Oliver didn't agree. These bullets should have made this guy burn, but he still looked perfectly healthy. He didn't even look too pissed off. Then Oliver remembered: this - whatever he was - wasn't only a Demon, he was some kind of a hybrid monster. Maybe that was why the Devil's bullets hadn't worked on him.

Gail had moved out from behind Cas to look at Oliver. She was curious to see the expression on his face. Was he truly a psycho, or was he just scared of them? If he could intuit that they were otherworldly beings, maybe he was just freaked out by that fact. If they could reassure him that they were benevolent, maybe he'd calm down long enough for Cas to disarm him.

"He's right," she said to Oliver, nodding her head to Cas. "You don't need to be afraid of us. We're good."

Oliver laughed harshly at that. If these two were good, he'd hate like hell to see bad. "Really," he said sardonically. "Well, yes, you must be good. You're so good you've got everybody fooled as to what you truly are."

So he did know. She guessed he was one of those guys who was wary of Angels. Even Sam and Dean made disparaging comments about Angels from time to time. Too many encounters with Angels like Jason, and Xavier, she thought wryly, and Metatron. Gail could definitely relate.

"No, it's OK," she reassured Oliver. "We're two of the good Angels, I promise."

Oliver's eyes widened for a moment. Angels? Could it be? But, no, he was an atheist; he didn't believe in God, or Heaven, or any of that crap. Dark forces were taking over the world, and Oliver's belief system wouldn't allow for any counterbalance. If there was a God, there was no way that He would allow all of the stuff that was happening in the world nowadays to happen. And things were about to get much, much worse. Oliver had had visions of the Devil himself wearing a clean white suit and being driven around in a white stretch limousine. And this girl was trying to claim that she and her beastly boyfriend were Angels? Yeah, right. She had brought the King of Hell into Oliver's house, hadn't she?

"Angels," Oliver spat out. "Even if I did believe in Angels, there's no way they would be doing the kinds of things that you two have been doing. It's bad enough that you're debasing yourself at all, let alone laying on your stomach and letting him put it in your - "

"That's enough!" Cas said. Oh God, he had to do something about this guy, and quick. But, what? He could just reach out and snap Oliver's neck, claiming he was just trying to make sure that he didn't go on a rampage with the gun. He was pretty sure that Gail would be OK with that. She wouldn't want Sam or Dean to be shot, or the girls, or any other human who just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Cas's fingers twitched. He looked at Oliver's neck. It would snap like a twig. Cas had done it before.

But then he remembered that he had killed Lanister to shut him up, too, and look how that had turned out. That murder was the one that had started Castiel on his descent, he was sure of it. If he let himself succumb to anger and fear now, what was to prevent him from becoming a monster again? Yes, Castiel was an Angel, but so had he been when he'd committed thousands of murders in the past, and not always for the right reasons. He couldn't even remember the reasons for some of those killings now, just as he hadn't been able to put a figure on the number of the many murders he had committed over the centuries, while supposedly in Heaven's service. One murder had led to another had led to another, and before he had known or truly realized what was even happening, that was who Castiel had become. Well, he didn't want to be that guy any more. Gail had been trying to teach him how to make himself better, and murdering Oliver now would negate all of the progress he had made.

"Please give me the gun, Oliver," Cas said, slowly reaching out his hand. "Please. We don't want anyone to get hurt."

Oliver was scared now. This guy was going to take his gun, and then he was going to kill Oliver. Probably take his time doing it, too. Oliver really didn't want to die, not yet, and he certainly didn't want to be tortured, first. This beast looked like he was an expert at torture. Oliver had seen the murderous look in his eyes. It would probably turn his succubus girlfriend on to see him torture Oliver. They probably used things like that as some weird kind of foreplay, or something; Oliver had seen this man bite this woman hard enough to draw blood in his psychic visions, and he had seen Gail crying out in ecstasy.

So Oliver turned the gun around and pointed it at his own chest. Better a quick death than a slow, painful, and possibly perverted one. "When Lucifer comes, you will have to decide if you stand with him, or against him," Oliver said to them. "He will make your service for him seem very appealing." Then he pulled the trigger, shooting himself in the chest.

Gail was shocked. Why had Oliver shot himself, rather than just giving Cas the gun? They hadn't threatened him in any way, so why had he looked so scared? And what had he been talking about when he'd referred to her laying on her stomach for Cas? She got the inference, but they had never done it that way, not even in Las Vegas.

But what disturbed her the most was Oliver talking about when Lucifer came. Not "if", but "when". Did Oliver know about the Demon Tablet passage? Oh, God, Lucifer was going to get out, wasn't he? But even if he did, couldn't either God or Bobby just slam him back in? And, she was sorry, but there was no decision to be made about who she and Cas were going to serve. She didn't care what Lucifer had on offer, there was no way that they would ever, ever align themselves with him. Not even if he gave her the ability to drink and enjoy coffee every day, sleep at night, and season tickets to every baseball game ever. Never.

When Oliver's body dropped to the ground, Cas upended the table and fell to his knees at Oliver's side. He could see the bullet hole in Oliver's chest, but it appeared as though the bullet had just missed the area where his heart should be. The wound wasn't bleeding nearly as much as it would have had it pierced a vital organ. Maybe there would still be time.

He ripped Oliver's shirt open and dug his fingers into the wound, feeling for the bullet. Oliver screamed in pain, but Cas ignored him. That was a hopeful sign; if he could scream like that, he probably wasn't too badly off.

Cas could feel the bullet now, and he grasped it in-between his fingers, pulling it out of Oliver's chest and casting it aside. Then he put his hands on Oliver's chest, and the blue glow came immediately. Cas had hardly used his powers since he'd returned to full Angel status, as he'd been living and working among humans for the most part, so he was at maximum strength. The tent's interior lit up with the blue glow.

And that was the moment that the girls came in.

Sam and Dean had been arguing with the women outside the tent. The brothers were trying to convince their dates to let it alone, but the girls couldn't, of course. There was a psycho lunatic in there with a gun pointed at Cas and Gail, and they were just supposed to ignore that? What was wrong with these guys?

Then they heard the gunshot, and the girls ran back in the direction of the tent. They entered it just in time to see the blue glow as Cas healed Oliver.

"What the hell?" Nicole exclaimed. Gail looked at the girls, then at Sam and Dean, who shrugged. What were they supposed to do about this, now?

Oliver sat up, dazed. He looked at Cas suspiciously. "What did you do to me?" he said.

Cas barely restrained himself from rolling his eyes. He may be benevolent now, but that didn't mean he couldn't get annoyed from time to time.

"I healed you," Cas said to him. He snatched the gun off the floor and handed it to Gail. "I told you, we mean you no harm. Now, go get cleaned up, and don't play with guns any more. Someone could get hurt next time."

Oliver sprang to his feet and looked at all of them disbelievingly for a moment, then he turned tail and exited the tent.

Cas stood, dusting his pants off, and looked at Gail. She looked back at him, then at the gun in her hand, and quickly handed it to Sam, who stuck it in his pants underneath his shirt. Like Sam and Dean, the Angels were wondering how they were going to explain to the girls what they had just seen. And Gail had lots of questions swimming around in her own head now, but those would have to wait for another time and place.

The Angels and the Winchesters exchanged looks as Nicole and Zoey stood there, waiting for one of them to speak.

"I've got nothing," Dean said, shrugging at Cas. Gail's mind was working furiously, and she could see that Sam's was, too. But her head was spinning, and nothing even halfway plausible was coming to mind.

Cas sighed. These women were his co-workers, and he had allowed himself to be seen. This was his responsibility. "I'm an Angel," he told the girls.

Silence. Neither woman laughed, and neither of them scoffed. Zoey had dabbled in New Age ideals and Wiccan rituals in the past, and her mind had pretty much always been open to the possibility that Angels did exist. Nicole was a bit more pragmatic, but she was spiritual in her own way, and she definitely believed in the balance of good vs. evil. She had seen a lot of evil things, but she had also seen enough good to convince her that Angels existed, and that they may very well walk among humans.

"Why does that not surprise me?" Nicole said, smiling warmly at Cas. "We always said that you were too good to be true."

Zoey laughed. "An actual Angel, playing an Angel on TV. That's too funny."

Dean was looking at the girls, shaking his head. So they just believed, just like that? And they weren't freaking out about it? They'd sure picked the right girls to come here with. Most women would have run off screaming that they were all nuts, or laughed right in their faces. His respect for Nicole grew.

"But we can't tell anyone," Cas said. "Not everyone would be as understanding, and strictly speaking, I'm not supposed to let humans see me when I do...well, what I just did." He smiled.

Zoey looked at Gail. "So, your boyfriend's an Angel," she teased. "What's that like? Is he, like, your guardian Angel, or something?"

Gail looked at Cas and smiled. "I guess you could just about say that very thing, ever since I've known him," she said softly. Cas wiped his bloody hands on his pants and walked over to her, taking her hand. Luckily, Oliver's blood had been fresh, and Cas didn't have much on his hand after he'd wiped it. Cas didn't want Gail ever to have blood from him on her again, but what she'd said was so sweet and loving that he'd had to acknowledge it.

"I'm an Angel, too," Gail told Zoey and Nicole. Zoey nodded. That only made sense to her. And it would explain a lot of things.

Nicole raised an eyebrow to Dean.

"Nooo," he said. "Sammy and I are just regular people. "Nothing angelic about us."

"Speak for yourself," Sam retorted, but he was grinning. "I have a few redeeming qualities, at least."

Gail smiled at that, but she said, "Look, we'd better get out of here before somebody comes along and wonders where the fortune teller is." She still had no idea what the hell had been up with that guy, and it was starting to get under her skin. She would have to ask Sam about him later. Maybe suggest that Sam remove him from his Contacts list. Sam probably wouldn't want to do business with a guy who would just pull a gun on his friends for no apparent reason.

They exited the tent and luckily, no one was paying attention to them or seemed to notice that anything had been amiss. The midway was very noisy, and it seemed like no one had heard the sounds that had come from the tent.

"I think we could use that drink now," Zoey said.

"Wait here for us a minute," Cas said. He still had a hold of Gail's hand, and he led her slightly away from the group.

"You didn't have to tell them that you were an Angel, too," he said softly.

"I know, but I just thought...I don't know, I just thought I would," she said. "Do you think that it was a bad idea?"

Cas smiled. "No. At least they didn't seem to have a problem with it. Hopefully, they'll keep our secret."

"We'll talk to them a bit more," Gail said. "Maybe we all need to go out for that drink, and we can tell them what we can."

Cas thought about that for a moment. "I guess we should."

"I think you should wash your hands and change your clothes first, though," Gail said. "You've got blood on your clothes."

Of course. "I'll go into the mens' room and pop home for a minute," Cas said.

"Sounds good," Gail replied. "We'll wait for you right here."

She came back to where their friends stood, advising them that Cas had gone home to clean himself up, and that he would be back shortly.

"How does that work?" Nicole asked her, curious.

Gail explained briefly about teleporting, and Nicole shook her head, smiling. "Must be nice," she said. "Commuting to work would be a breeze."

"I hear you," Gail said, laughing. "But we have to be discreet when we do that. We can't just go popping in and out of everywhere. We can't afford to call attention to ourselves."

"Why not?" Zoey piped up. "I think the world could use more Angels. There's sure enough bad stuff going on these days. It would be nice for people to know that there were Angels around, too."

Gail thought about that. She guessed she could see Zoey's point. Maybe they SHOULD have a higher profile on Earth. But, that wasn't for her to say. That was a discussion to have with Bobby.

Dean looked around. "Hey, they're gone!" he exclaimed. "What's gone?" Gail asked him. He told her about Cas knocking over the milk bottles and winning the stuffed animals. He'd dropped them outside the tent, but now Dean didn't see them anywhere. He and Sam had each picked out a plush toy for their girls as well, but they had also dropped those, and now they didn't see them anywhere.

"Damn thieves," Dean grumbled. He was annoyed. Cas had beaten the game, and he had seemed really excited to be bringing Gail the prizes he had won for her.

When Cas came back, Dean told him that he had looked around, but someone had obviously taken the stuffed animals. Cas's face fell. This was the second time now he'd won those for Gail, and now he didn't have them to give to her, again.

"You'd better not tell HER that," Dean said nervously. "She's not supposed to know that this is our second summer this year, right?"

Oh. Dean was right. Cas had almost slipped, yet again. Evasion and equivocation, he was used to; out-and-out deception was another matter entirely.

But Gail hadn't heard his and Dean's exchange. She'd been talking to Sam and the two girls. Cas looked at her guiltily. It was becoming increasingly difficult for him to be keeping things from her. He'd actually been more afraid of Oliver saying too much to her than he'd been of the fact that Oliver had had a gun. And there were mines all over the field. Even something as seemingly innocuous as the stuffed animals could set off a chain reaction of questions. But, wouldn't Sam say something about them?

Sure enough, Sam was looking around now, too. But then he looked over to Dean and Cas, and he shrugged. Obviously, one or more individuals had just picked up the toys and absconded with them. Bastards. Oh well, no big deal, they were only stuffed animals. If the girls didn't know about them, they wouldn't be disappointed. So he didn't say anything. Cas was relieved.

Cas took Gail's hand then, and Sam and Dean did the same with their dates. The six of them exited the fairgrounds and walked to the parking lot where Dean had parked the Impala. Cas remembered the last time he had left the fair, taking the bus back to his apartment with only Gail's stuffed animals for companions. Now she was here with him, letting him hold her hand, and Sam and Dean were with them. He much preferred this time around.

The six of them went to a bar, and the humans ordered drinks.

Now that the crisis was over, Gail was full of questions. She looked at Sam. "What do you know about Oliver?" she asked him. "Why would he have asked me about Cas? We've never even met the guy before. Or, HAVE you met him before?" she asked Cas, who shook his head quickly. "But that wouldn't even make sense, anyway. How would he know me, then?" Gail said. "I know I've never seen him before."

Sam shrugged. "He's always been eccentric, but I never would have thought he would pull something like that."

"Do you think he knew I was an Angel?" Gail persisted. "Maybe that scared him, or something."

Sam smiled. "I doubt that. He's an atheist."

"What else did he say before we got there?" Cas asked her warily.

Gail frowned, trying to remember. "He said something about you needing to die, and he said he was surprised you hadn't killed me already. Why the hell would he say something like that?"

"Guy's crazy," Dean stated, taking a sip of his beer.

"And I think he said something about doing the world a favour," Gail added. "Why would he say that?"

"I don't know why he would think that doing harm to Angels would be doing the world a favour," Zoey said. "Is he a Satanist, or something?"

Sam shook his head. "No, of course not."

"The whole thing makes no sense," Gail said. "Why would he be carrying a gun around with him anyway, and why would he think that it would hurt us?"

"Yeah, that's ridiculous," Nicole said. "You can't be killed; you're Angels, right? Aren't you already...you know..."

"Dead?" Cas said, smiling. "Well, technically, yes. We were once humans. That was a very long time ago for me, and since I am a celestial being, I needed a body, or what we call a 'vessel', in order to be seen by humans here on Earth. You couldn't look upon me in my true form."

"What do you really look like?" Zoey asked him curiously.

"You wouldn't be able to perceive my appearance," Cas said enigmatically.

Dean rolled his eyes. Angel crap, and he'd heard it before. "He probably looks like a twelve-year-old girl, or something," he quipped.

"Well, I do like stickers and boy bands," Cas joked, and they all laughed.

Sam was particularly impressed. That might be the funniest thing he had ever heard Cas say; his sense of humour was usually a lot more left-of-centre. But, he wanted to stay on point. "Did Oliver say anything else, Gail?" he asked her.

"Not that I can recall," she told him. "Then you guys came in, and, well, you know the rest." Then she remembered. "Oh, there was one other thing. He said that the gun had special bullets." Sam nodded. That was right; he remembered Oliver having said that, and thinking that it was strange. "But what kind of bullets could harm an Angel?" Gail continued. "Even if they had sigils carved into them, that would just affect our ability to use our powers, not kill us, right?" She looked to Cas for confirmation.

He nodded. "That's right." But he was troubled now. There were types of bullets that could kill Demons, and Oliver had obviously thought that he and Gail were both still Demons.

Sam's brow furrowed. He'd never heard of bullets that could kill Angels, and obviously, neither had Cas. "I'm glad you gave me that gun, Gail," Sam said. "When we get back home, I'm going to examine it, and the bullets, too. Maybe they'll tell us something about what he was hoping to accomplish." He frowned. "I'll put out some feelers, too, see if we can find him. We should talk to him about you two, make sure he knows you're two of the good ones." He smiled at Gail and Cas.

Cas was panicked now. He couldn't afford Sam digging into this whole thing. Oliver was a big, long thread that, if tugged on, could unravel the whole thing. And even if he could not be found, once Sam examined the bullets, Cas knew there would be about a million more questions raised. But what could Cas do about it?

The couples split up into pairs afterwards. Dean and Nicole stayed at the bar to have dinner and shoot some pool. Sam and Zoey said they were going to take a walk along the seawall. Cas and Gail joined them, for a short time. Gail had missed their walks around Vancouver. He'd been so busy with the show that they hadn't had a chance to do much of anything together recently, at least not that she could recall.

The foursome walked, each couple hand in hand, talking companionably. Cas had been thinking furiously, trying to figure out a way to get the gun away from Sam, or at least to dissuade him from making his examination, but he could think of nothing to say that he thought would be effective.

"Oh look, there's the casino," Zoey remarked. "That's a pathetic waste of waterfront space. They should have an aquarium there instead, or something like that."

"You don't approve of casinos?" Cas asked her lightly.

"It's not that, really," she answered. "I just think some people spend way too much money in those kinds of places."

Gail smiled at Cas. She supposed that was true at times, but they'd never had to worry about that. Whenever Cas had played, they had always come out very comfortably ahead of where they had started. But now that they were here, she really wanted to see Barry. She suggested this to Cas now.

He thought about that for a moment. Was Barry a thread? Cas didn't really think so. Gail remembered going to the party, and Barry knew nothing about that bad period in their lives. So, why not? He was curious to find out if Barry and Tommy had gotten back together after their reunion at the party.

"We'll see you tomorrow," Cas said to Sam and Zoey. "I'm filming in the afternoon, so Gail and I can come over to the hotel for breakfast." He smiled. "Or, to watch you have breakfast, anyway."

Zoey laughed. She couldn't wait to see Cas on the set, knowing what she knew now about him. She had about a million more questions for him, but she would keep his and Gail's secret, and she knew that Nicole would do the same. She was glad that Cas and Gail were here on Earth, and happy to call herself their friend.

Sam and Zoey continued their walk, and Cas and Gail went to the casino.

When they walked into the poker room, a nice surprise awaited them.

Barry greeted them effusively, and a moment later, Cas felt a tap on the shoulder from behind. When he wheeled around, Tommy was standing there, beaming.

"I have to thank you," Tommy said to Cas. "Not only are Barry and I back together because of you, but since you gave me no choice but to believe, I feel a lot better about everything in general now." He extended his arms. "Would you mind?"

"Of course not," Cas said, smiling. Tommy hugged him, and Cas hugged his friend back. Then Cas pulled out of the embrace and said, "But you and Barry actually got yourselves back together. I just got you talking to each other." Barry and Tommy exchanged a warm look.

"I guess you're right about that," Tommy acknowledged.

"We would have called to thank you, but we wanted to spend some time alone together for a while," Barry told the Angels, still looking at Tommy.

"Are you blushing?" Gail teased Barry. She elbowed him in the stomach. "And just exactly what were you doing, all that time you were alone together?"

"You're an Angel, you're not supposed to know about things like that," Barry said, pretending to be shocked.

Gail looked at Cas, raising an eyebrow. "You might be surprised," Gail said to Barry, but she was still smiling at Cas.

"Don't believe everything you've heard," Cas said, matching her tone. He walked over to Gail and put his arm around her waist, kissing her on the lips. Then he looked back at Barry and Tommy. "They call it Heaven for a reason, you know," Cas quipped.

Tommy smiled. "It's good to see the two of you here, together," he said.

"I'm sorry we haven't been here more," Gail said, missing his nuance, "but Cas's shooting schedule has been crazy." But even as she said that, Gail was wondering: If she hadn't been on the set much, and she hadn't been here, where HAD she been for most of the time that they'd been here in Vancouver? And how long HAD they been here, anyway? Hadn't they just escaped their ordeal at the cabin?

"I didn't know you played poker, Tommy," Cas interjected quickly, changing the subject. He didn't like the look he was seeing on Gail's face. He knew she had been puzzling over what Tommy had said. Cas knew her very well by now, and he knew that her wheels were spinning.

"I don't, much," Tommy replied. "But we haven't wanted to spend any time apart, since I moved back in."

Cas smiled, looking warmly at Gail. He could certainly understand that. He was so excited that Gail was back with him now that he didn't intend to let her out of his sight for a moment.

"Come play with me for a while," Tommy said to Cas. "I need a real challenge."

Cas looked at Gail. "What are you looking at me for?" she said. "If you want to play, then play."

"You play, too," he said to her.

"Oh, no, I'm never going through that again. If Dean had beaten me, I never would have heard the end of it," Gail said with a smile. "Besides, if I want your money, I'll just take some of the many, many chips I'm sure you'll have in just a few minutes." She turned to Barry. "Coffee break?" she asked him. "If Tommy's going to play with Cas, I might as well play with you," she quipped.

When they sat down with their coffee, Barry asked Gail what she was up to these days. She frowned momentarily. "Nothing much," she replied. And she was frowning because, that was just it: She couldn't recall having done anything, anything at all, since they had escaped the cabin. She remembered their friends and Crowley having burst in, Crowley removing his Demon essence from Cas, and then they had been here in Vancouver, living in the apartment, with Cas working on the show, and Sam and Dean were here visiting them. How had she gotten here? How long had they been here? And why couldn't she think of a single thing she had done ever since leaving the cabin? Maybe she should talk to Cas about that. He would probably think that she was just being silly, though. What could possibly be wrong? Except for the incident that had happened with that weirdo Oliver earlier today, she was blissfully happy now. Maybe it was the stress from that encounter that was making her feel so strangely. She would definitely have to talk to Cas about that later.

Tommy was talking to Cas now, asking him if he had any ideas for a story. Tommy was still in a slump, he told Cas. It seemed like there just weren't any new stories to be told; everything Tommy could think of had already been done, ad nauseum.

"I know which story I'd like to write," Tommy teased gently. "But I guess I wouldn't be a very good friend if I were to do that."

They were at the cash cage now and not at the table, so Tommy had felt free enough to joke around with Cas. But he still spoke softly; he knew there were eyes and ears everywhere in the casino.

Cas knew that Tommy was joking, but he felt duty-bound to say, "You can never write that story, Tommy. You know that, right?"

Tommy sighed. "Yeah, I know. But, it would be the story of my career. Can you imagine if people knew - ?"

Cas could. He'd thought about it, many times. As it was, there were now two men and two women here in Vancouver, along with their friends back home of course, who knew that he and Gail were Angels. And none of them seemed to mind; in fact, his Canadian friends seemed to be very positive about that fact. So, really, would it be so bad? Humanity needed hope, probably now more than ever; there was certainly enough evil, poverty and despair in the world, and more than enough fear. But, then again, for every person who seemed happy to believe in Angels and their existence, there would be at least one more who would refuse to believe, even when presented with irrefutable evidence. Then there were those who were already on the path to becoming denizens of Hell, who would be only too happy to negate any good that Angels could do for humans. Murderers, rapists, pedophiles, just to name a few. Those souls would belong to Crowley one day, and there were some people that you could never change, or even rehabilitate. But Castiel did wonder about all of those people who were currently sitting on the fence. Shouldn't they be trying to reach out to them somehow? Many people had lost hope, succumbing to depression and fear of the unknown. Thankfully, Heaven's laws had now been amended to give those souls a chance to plead their case before being cast down, but still...shouldn't they be helping those people before it even got to that point?

Cas sighed. That was a discussion to be had for another time. Right now, he just wanted to collect Gail and take her home, to their home together. Their separation had been long and painful, and he just wanted to savour their alone time together before Heaven came calling. He still didn't know exactly how that was going to work. He and Bobby were going to have to put their heads together on that one. Gail would have no recollection of being the Chairwoman of the new and improved board, nor of the new laws, either. Would she simply accept those things as facts, as she had seemed to accept their living together here now, with equanimity?

Crowley was surprised. When he returned to the torture room, the Torture Master informed him that none of the three Angels had yet broken, even though they had been subjected to the most painful procedures he had at his disposal.

The King of Hell frowned. "Perhaps a change of title for you is in order," he said. "'Master' would seem a little superlative, at this point."

"I used everything we have," his employee protested. "They are simply being stubborn."

Crowley let out a frustrated breath. Apparently. It was time to step it up a notch. Maybe their respective experiences with Castiel had toughened them up. Once again, Crowley wished he had Demon Cas at his disposal right now. That guy would have had all three of those men spilling their deepest, darkest secrets within five minutes.

Crowley snapped his fingers. That was it. There were tortures other than physical ones, and they could often be more effective. "Bring them to me," he ordered the Torture Master.

Alexander was sitting at a bar, watching the bartender pour him a drink. After the rigours of the torture session he had just undergone, he deserved a couple of drinks to help cope with the pain, and to take the edge off. The pain had been excruciating, but Alexander was very proud of himself. He had not given anything up, though he had come close a few times. Alexander knew that the other two thought of him as the weakest link, and he had been determined not to betray the group. He needed the alliance of his former compatriots. Alexander had tried to strike out on his own on Earth, and that had been his undoing.

The bartender set Alexander's drink in front of him, and he reached out for it, raising the glass to his lips. But suddenly, the glass was empty, even though Alexander hadn't yet had a sip.

He motioned for the bartender to refill the glass, but when the man did, the same thing happened again. Then it happened again, then again.

Alexander understood what was happening here. He may have been a coward at heart, but he wasn't stupid. He was in Hell, and this was just another of Crowley's tortures. At first, Alexander was amused. This was far more preferable to extreme physical pain. But the longer that the repetition went on, the worse that Alexander started to feel. He had died an alcoholic, and having the blessed liquid so close now, yet so far away, was beginning to get to him. He could smell the whiskey now, and he could almost taste it in his mouth. What would be so wrong with him having a couple of drinks, anyway? He was a Demon now, wasn't he?

Beads of sweat broke out on Alexander's forehead, and he started to shake. He tried to get up, either to go behind the bar himself and grab a bottle, or to leave the bar, but he was rooted to the spot, of course. He tried to close his eyes, but they immediately sprang open when he did. And still, the bartender kept pouring. Alexander opened his mouth. Was he going to scream, or was he going to speak?

Aaron was standing in front of his father, pleading with him.

"She's going to kill me, Father," he told Lanister. "You have to find them, before that happens."

"We don't know where they are, Son," Lanister told him. "But Jason is looking for them now, and once your team apprehends them, they will be brought to justice in Heaven."

"I never got the chance to apprehend them, remember?" his son said pointedly. "She killed me before Jason had the chance to take them in."

Lanister was fuming. He remembered. She had killed Aaron in cold blood, and Gail and Castiel had walked free. To this day, she had never truly been brought to answer for her murder of Lanister's son.

Aaron was frowning. "And who was it that encouraged me to join Law Enforcement in the first place? Oh yeah, that's right. You did. And you persuaded Jason to put me on his team. I wasn't cut out for that kind of assignment, and you knew it. I failed my physical training course because my reaction times were too slow, and I guess they were that day too, weren't they? But you bribed Jason to let me through anyway, and now, here I am. Dead. So, is that Gail's fault, or is it yours?"

"I never wanted anything to happen to you, Aaron," Lanister said, anguished. "I never meant for you to die." He was crying bitter tears now. It was hard for him to hear his son say these things, but in a way, Aaron was quite right. If Lanister had just let it alone and let his son make his own choices, Aaron would still be alive.

"I'm sorry, Son," Lanister said. He moved forward to try to embrace Aaron, but that was impossible, of course. His son wasn't even there. Aaron was actually in Heaven at the moment. He had been an Angel when he died, and he was an Angel once again. Aaron had spent some time in Limbo, and then when Bobby had retaken the reins, he had seen to it that Aaron was able to re-ascend. Even though the young Angel had been on Jason's Law Enforcement team, Bobby knew that Aaron had not harmed anyone, nor had he ever intended to. He'd simply been there on Heaven's orders, but if Jason had instructed him to harm one of the humans or especially one of the Angels, Aaron had intended to refuse. So Bobby felt the young Angel had deserved another chance. Bobby hadn't had the chance to tell Gail yet because of that whole damn Demon thing, but Bobby was pretty sure that would make her happy. That wasn't why he'd done it, of course, but it would be a nice fringe benefit, nonetheless.

But the damage had already been done. Aaron was an Angel again, and his father was a Demon, and they would never see each other again.

Except for within the torture, of course. Lanister and Aaron began the same conversation again, and then again, and it always went the same way, climaxing with blood running down Aaron's face from his eyes. Lanister didn't know how much longer he could take this before he broke.

Xavier was back on Earth, or so it would appear, anyway. He was handcuffed to the bed, in the cabin where Castiel had held him. Xavier had been tortured and then killed by Castiel, and he thought he understood what was happening here all too well. Crowley had found the Torture Master's technique to be wanting, and now he was going to send the real Master in to do the job.

The bedroom door opened, and Xavier's eyes widened, then narrowed. He should have figured as much. Crowley was the King of Evil, wasn't he?

Xavier's uncle walked in, smiling widely. "I've missed you," he told his nephew, closing the door behind him. He approached the bed as Xavier lay still, frozen in shock.

"I was so glad when Crowley told me you were here," his uncle said, sitting down on the bed. He reached out and caressed Xavier's cheek. "I was afraid that your mother would turn you into a Saint, or something. And she did there, for a while. But we're eternal beings, and this was so worth the wait. Your hunger for power was your undoing, Xavier, and you obviously haven't learned from your mistakes, have you? Now you're trying to do it again here, but I don't think you'll like the result." He unzipped Xavier's pants, then unzipped his own. "But I will," his uncle continued. "Now, let's get you out of those cuffs."

Crowley was having a drink in the waiting area when the Torture Master came out.

"Xavier has broken," he announced. "He is ready to talk."

The King of Hell smiled. Finally. He should really have thought of that sooner. Xavier's uncle had long been in Crowley's service. The King had arranged for the other former board members to undergo psychological torture only, but he had sent Xavier the real thing, in a setting that Crowley knew would be all too painfully familiar to Xavier. Simultaneous psychological, physical, and emotional torture. The trifecta. And the fact that it was actually happening, not merely an illusion, made it even better. Crowley wasn't an altar boy, he was the King of Hell, and he didn't give a damn what Xavier's uncle was doing to him now. Xavier had punched his own ticket when he had done all those reprehensible things in his quest to take over Heaven. Did he really think he could conspire with the King of Hell to bury Castiel and Gail and not get sulphur on his sainted robes?

"Aurielle has the Tablet," Xavier said, in-between hitched breaths. He had been sobbing when Crowley had entered the room, but Xavier was trying to get it under control. He didn't want to cry in front of Crowley. There would be plenty of time for that later on.

"What's she doing with it?" Crowley asked harshly. He was angry with himself. He'd had her right there in her office, and instead of torturing her too, as he should have done, he had shown her a movie, and then let her go free. A colossal mistake on his part.

"She's been trying to decipher the coded passage," Xavier told him.

"All of you can read the language, can't you?" Crowley asked him curiously.

"The words, yes," Xavier replied. "But, what do they mean?"

Crowley smiled nastily. "None of your business, that's what they mean," he said, almost cheerfully. "Now I've got some words for you: Cease, immediately. You and your little Angel band. No more plotting, no more conspiracy. You will be assigned to separate work areas, and if anyone sees any of you even looking in the same direction as another one of you, you can expect to be seeing a lot more of your uncle."

Then Crowley got up and left the room, and Xavier began to weep again.

Zoey was propped up on one elbow, looking down at Sam. "So, what's your and Dean's deal?" she asked brightly.

"Deal?" he said innocently.

"Yeah," Zoey replied. "What's your deal? What do you guys do? Why do you hang around with Angels?"

Sam looked at her, debating with himself. Zoey was sweet, and cute, and great in bed. But he and Dean only had one more day here and then they would be gone, and Sam would likely never see Zoey again. On the other hand, she had been very accepting of Cas and Gail's situation, and she and Nicole knew that the Winchesters couldn't be just ordinary guys, working at mundane jobs.

"It's complicated," Sam said to her. "How tired are you?"

"For this, I'll put on a pot of coffee." Zoey smiled. Then she leaned down and kissed him. Sam reached for her, but she waggled a finger at him. "Oh no you don't, buster. Maybe later, after you spill your guts." She padded out of the room, calling behind her: "OK, definitely later."

Sam laughed. He guessed he'd better put his clothes back on, or at least his pants. He'd follow her to the kitchen, maybe see if she had anything in the fridge he could put together to make them something to eat. Their talk could take a while.

Dean and Nicole were sitting on her couch. They'd been talking for a while now, and Nicole was both impressed and appalled by what she'd been hearing. Wow. What a life this guy had led.

They had had a great time at the bar. Nicole had kept the conversation light, sensing that Dean could use a break from heavy topics for a while. They had just been through something pretty traumatic, and when the others had left the bar, Dean was frowning. So she'd ordered them both some more drinks and then challenged him to a game of pool. Soon Dean was laughing at some of the stories Nicole was telling him about Cas on the set, and when he was sure that they weren't being overhead, Dean chipped in with a few Cas stories of his own.

Then they had come back to Nicole's apartment building, and this time when Dean kissed her at the door, Nicole invited him upstairs.

She'd offered him a beer, but to her surprise, Dean had asked her if he could have coffee, instead. She'd shrugged and put on a pot. Was she glad, or disappointed? Nicole wasn't sure. She'd thought that if he had taken a beer, that would be his signal that he wanted to spend the night, if she would let him. They'd had a few drinks at the bar, but they had also eaten, and Nicole had trusted that Dean was sober enough to drive her home. But one more beer probably would have tipped him over to the wrong side of the scale. She supposed he could leave the Impala here and take a cab back to the hotel if he really wanted to, but he didn't seem like the type of guy who would just leave his beloved car out on the street like that. He called the thing "Baby", for God's sake. She didn't know Dean that well yet, but Nicole could already tell that he had a very special relationship with his car. He had driven it all the way up here to Vancouver, when they could have gotten here way faster by airplane. So, no. If Dean was leaving here tonight, he'd be leaving with his Baby, Nicole was sure.

But sometimes coffee was just coffee, and Nicole was a realist. Dean and Sam were only here for another day. Did she even want to go there?

She brought the coffee out to the living room and sat it on the warmer she kept on the coffee table. Nicole spent a lot of time here, when she wasn't working of course, and she did like her coffee.

She sat down next to Dean and they started to talk. Nicole let Dean take the lead. She sensed that he actually did want to talk now, and she was happy to provide an ear. Maybe she'd be able to find out a couple of things about him, after all.

The first subject was the weird thing that had happened earlier at the fair, naturally. Then Dean was talking about Cas and Gail, and then, before he knew it, he was spilling his guts to her about him and Sam. Nicole had warm eyes, and Dean had been looking into them the whole time as he had been talking. At one point, Nicole had put her hand on his arm like Gail would have done, and Dean liked it. This was a different feeling, though. Dean loved Gail to pieces, but she was like a sister to him. When Nicole put her hand on his arm, Dean had felt a spark. He hadn't felt that in years. Random hookups didn't make him feel that, and he would certainly never be sitting here like this with any of them, drinking coffee and telling his life's story.

"So that's it," he concluded, draining his mug. "That's me. That's what I'm all about. Bet you're sorry you asked now," he said wryly.

"Not at all," Nicole said softly. "You guys are amazing. I can't believe you have the courage to do what you do, and the patience and persistence to have been doing it for all these years."

Dean shrugged. He was pleased by Nicole's compliment, but he wasn't that used to receiving sincere compliments, either. "Hey, it's what we do. It's what we've always done."

"It must get pretty lonely sometimes, though," Nicole remarked.

"It does," Dean said simply.

Then he was kissing her, slowly at first, and his arms went around her waist. Nicole opened her lips and Dean's tongue found hers. Her hands caressed his back, and Dean lifted her top, touching her bare skin.

Dean broke the kiss and looked at Nicole. Her eyes were shining, and she was smiling.

"Your call," Dean said to her.

Nicole thought for a moment. She really liked Dean. He was handsome and sexy, he had a wicked sense of humour, and what he did made him a hero, in her book. Funny, she had just accepted everything he'd told her without question. It was so obvious that he had been telling the truth. Nicole had readily accepted Cas and Gail being Angels because she had always had faith; or at least, her own version of it. People were inherently good, for the most part, Nicole believed. They wanted to do the right things, and they wanted to love one another. But she also knew that many people were weak, and easily swayed. Going to church every Sunday didn't make you a good person, any more than getting a tattoo and swearing didn't make you a bad person. The world wasn't black and white; it was comprised of many different colours. Sam and Dean and Cas and Gail were some of those vibrant colours, and Nicole had always thought of herself as one, too. She lived her life the best way she knew how, trying to spread love and kindness wherever she went. Well, maybe it was time for her to let herself receive a little love in return, however momentary it might turn out to be.

She stood and extended her hand to Dean. He rose from the couch, and Nicole led him to her bedroom.

Dean laid her down on the bed and kissed her. Nicole began to unbutton his shirt and Dean helped her, smiling. She caressed his chest once he took his shirt off and tossed it on the floor. Soon her top joined his shirt there, and then Dean had her bra unhooked.

Nicole smiled at him. "I think you might have done that before, once or twice."

Dean smiled back, but his answer was sincere. "Not with you, Nicole. That's what makes it special." He kissed her breasts, as she held the back of his head. Then he undid her pants and started to slide them off her hips. Nicole raised up to make it easier for him, and when he had them off, Dean began to kiss her stomach. Then he got off the bed and took off his pants. He left his shorts on for the time being, but Nicole could see how excited he was now. She was excited, too. It had been a while for her, but she knew that she was in good hands here. Dean was a sweet guy, and he obviously knew what he was doing.

He eased his body on top of hers and kissed her, long and slow, darting his tongue in and out of her mouth. Teasing her. Nicole reached one hand down and touched him through his underwear, and Dean's breath caught. He propped himself up on one elbow and began to stroke her, slipping his fingers under the silk waistband of her underwear. Nicole gasped, and then her hand was in his shorts, and she was doing the same thing to him.

They moved together like that for a couple of minutes. Then, when Dean couldn't stand it anymore, their underwear joined the pile of clothes on the floor and Dean was inside her. Nicole opened her legs wider to accommodate him, and she was moving with him, moaning. She caressed his back and shoulders, enjoying the sight of his muscles rippling as he moved in and out of her.

Dean sped up his motion, and he leaned down to kiss her again. "You feel so good," he breathed. "I don't think I can hold out much longer."

Nicole smiled. "That's OK. We've got all night."

Yes, they did, Dean thought. He wasn't going anywhere for a while. He would make sure that she was smiling even wider than she was now when he was done here. And, for the first time in his life, Dean started to wonder if he should ask Sammy how Skype worked.

Cas and Gail were in bed too, but all they were doing was talking, at least for the moment.

She had felt inexplicably shy once they'd gotten home. It was weird, really. They'd been together for so long now, and they had cohabited for the majority of that time. But now that they could seemingly make love whenever they chose, she didn't quite know what to do with herself. Should she just march into the bedroom and start to strip? Should she lay down in bed with all of her clothes on? Or should she just stay here in the living room? It wasn't as though they slept, or anything, so they didn't even really need to go to the bedroom.

Cas saw her indecision, and he didn't want her to feel uncomfortable. This was her home, too; now that she had come back to him, anywhere she wanted to be was their home. So he put his arms around her and kissed her lightly on the lips.

"We can talk out here or in there," he told her softly. "It's up to you."

She thought about it for a moment. "Might as well be in there, I guess," she said. He took her hand, and they walked into the bedroom together.

Now Gail faced another decision. Cas's lips twitched as he turned on the lamp and saw the expression on her face. But she was looking a little distressed now, and he didn't want her to think her feelings were being minimalized.

He walked over to her and touched her face. It calmed him down whenever she did that to him. "Please don't be shy with me, Gail," he said in a serious tone. "I love you. Please, just do whatever makes you feel comfortable."

She took his hand in both of hers and kissed it. "You must think I'm being pretty stupid," she said to him.

"Not at all," he assured her. "This is all new to me, too." Now Cas was lying through his teeth, but it was for a good cause, he told himself. He wanted her to be OK with him, and he had to remember that for all she knew, they had only made love once as Angels. Neither of them had had any experience in this area when they had gotten together in Las Vegas, and they had been human then. At least, that was where her mind was at in their history. Cas had the unfair advantage of his memories of the Demon phase, and while most of that had been horrifying, there had been times that had been very, very good. He wanted to relive some of those times. If she would let him, Cas could pour all the love he had for her into his lovemaking, and he knew that he could make her very happy. But she had to be OK with it, or it wasn't going to happen.

"Let's just get more comfortable and talk for a while," he said, kissing her on the forehead. Then he turned around and sat on the opposite side of the bed, slowly removing his shoes, not looking her way.

Gail smiled. He was being so sweet. He had his back turned on purpose, and he was taking a lot longer than was necessary to take his shoes off.

She took off her clothes, then put her top and underpants back on. There. She wasn't fully dressed, but she wasn't naked, either, and she was more comfortable this way. A good compromise. Maybe she would have to buy a couple of nightgowns. She didn't seem to have any.

Gail looked at Cas, who was bending down now, taking off his socks slowly and folding them inside the shoes. Then he rearranged them. She burst out laughing. God, he was cute. She walked over to the bed and climbed on it, edging over to where he sat.

"It's OK, Cas," she said, putting her arms around him from behind. She kissed him softly on the cheek, then on his ear. "You can take off as much or as little as you want," she murmured into his ear.

Cas's pulse quickened. He swung around and kissed her, parting her lips with his tongue. Her tongue danced with his for a moment and then he broke the kiss, making himself slow down.

"Let's talk," he said. He slowly unbuttoned his shirt with trembling hands and took it off, but he left his pants on. He laid down on the bed and pulled her gently towards him. "Come here," Cas said softly. He cuddled her for a moment and kissed her forehead. "What would you like to talk about?" he asked her.

Gail raised herself up and looked down at his face. "I still don't understand that business with Oliver, and it's really starting to bug me," she said to him. "Why did he say all that weird stuff to us, and about us? Where the hell would any of that have even come from?"

Cas frowned. "He obviously suffers from mental illness, or delusions of some sort."

"But he's a psychic, according to Sam," Gail argued.

"That doesn't mean he can't be crazy," Cas countered, logically enough.

Gail tilted her head. "True, but..." There was one other thing that Oliver had said, and it had been oddly specific. But she certainly couldn't have brought it up in front of the others earlier. Thank God Oliver had said it when she and Cas had been there alone with him. She didn't even know if she could say it out loud to Cas now, in the privacy of their own bedroom.

"But, what?" Cas prompted her, smiling gently at her for encouragement.

"Why would he have made that comment about you putting your - " She couldn't say it. She tried again. "About me laying on my stomach for you?"

Cas's heart skipped a beat. He'd forgotten about that, in the heat of the situation. Of course that would confuse her, and make her feel uncomfortable. "I don't know," he said weakly.

"I mean, even if he was a perverted psychic, we've never done that," Gail went on. She didn't know whether she should be embarrassed or amused, but since she and Cas were in love and practically married anyway, she had decided to settle on amused. "I mean, we've only gotten to A and B so far, let alone going further down the alphabet," she quipped.

He looked puzzled, and then he smiled. "I'm just happy to be spelling at all," Cas quipped back.

Gail laughed. "You're so cute you should be illegal," she told him. She started to kiss his chest, then she looked up at him, still smiling. "But I'm glad you're not, because I'd be in jail for what I'm thinking right now."

Cas pulled her down on top of him and then they were kissing again. Then he rolled her over on her back and lifted her top, caressing her bare skin.

"Do you mind?" he asked her, smiling.

Mind? She was thrilled. Gail liked this little bit of aggression from him. She wasn't comfortable taking the lead in these kinds of situations. It was almost as if Cas knew that. And she thought he was really sexy when he was like this.

Now his hand was in her underpants, and he was stroking her lazily with one finger. Wow.

"Cas," she said. That was all she could say; that was how good it felt.

"I love you," he told her, and then she got even more excited. He sped up his motion, and she began to squirm. Then he leaned down to kiss her, licking her lips, his tongue playing with hers. She was breathing heavily now.

"Hold that thought," Cas said lightly. He quickly took off his pants and underwear, and then he smiled. "Do you want to try 'C'?"

She was blank for a moment, and then she smiled, too. "Sure," she said softly.

Cas laid down on his back beside her.

"Come here," he said, gesturing to her. He helped her to position herself at his mouth, and he moved her head down so that he was positioned at hers. She started to lick him, and he guided her body down to his tongue, doing the same to her. Then she took him in her mouth, and he moaned. The vibration sent a shock of pleasure through her, and she made a noise in her throat, sending a shock of pleasure through him.

Then he moved her away from him slightly. "Let's stop and count to ten," Cas murmured. "Then we'll resume. It'll be amazing."

Gail was reluctant to stop, but she trusted him, so she did, and she started counting. But she didn't want to stay completely away from him for all that time, so she gave him a few butterfly licks while they were waiting, and he moaned again. He did the same thing to her, and then he made himself hold her away from him again, as her body jumped.

At the end of ten, they resumed simultaneously, and they were both crying out almost immediately. Cas had been right; the fact that they'd stopped for a few seconds only made this more intense now. They both felt the warm rush at the same time, and they called out each other's names. Then they lingered for a moment, tasting each other.

Gail moved to lay down beside him then, and Cas was helping her. Her whole body was wobbly, and he held her firmly, making sure she didn't lose her balance. Wow, Gail thought. She'd better send Google a fruit basket along with that Thank You card. Maybe two. Maybe an orchard.

Cas cuddled her as they both regained their breath. "I love you, Cas," she told him. "That was unbelievable."

"Yes, it was," he agreed, smiling. He was glad that she was so happy. This was the one good thing, and the only good thing, that had come out of that whole ugly time. He had a much better idea of what to do now, and what would give her maximum pleasure. And he was now finding that, as an otherworldly being, he seemed to have the same stamina that the Demon had had, but absolutely none of the cruelty or pushiness. He knew that she liked him taking the lead, and he was happy to do that, but if she said no to anything he proposed, he would halt it immediately. He existed to make her happy, not the other way around. She had paid her dues in pain and blood, and he would spend the rest of his existence making that up to her.

"Cas?" Gail said tentatively.

"Yes, Gail?" he asked, kissing her softly on the cheek.

"Where did you learn about that?" she asked him curiously.

His hands had been caressing her, and now they froze. He had no idea what to say to that. "What do you mean?" he said, stalling for time.

She was kissing his chest again. He'd loved that in Las Vegas, and he loved it now. How could he try to think up something to say while she was doing that? "You know what I mean," she said, in-between kisses. He could hear the smile in her voice now. She wasn't interrogating him, she was just teasing him, being cute. He smiled with relief, and also because he loved what she was doing.

"I just thought that it would feel good," he said lightly, closing his eyes to fully enjoy the sensation of what she was doing. "And, did it not?"

Gail's smile grew wider. He was talking like Castiel now. And she found that even sexier, for some reason. Did he think that he had just invented something new? That thought was too funny, and she couldn't help but laugh.

Cas opened his eyes. "You seem quite happy," he said teasingly.

She looked at him. "Yeah, I'm all right," she teased back, her lips twitching.

"Only all right?" Cas answered back. His smile widened, too. He couldn't seem to stop smiling. "Well, I think I can do better than that."

Incredibly, he'd gotten excited again. Apparently, Demons weren't the only otherworldly beings who had astonishing powers to regroup. Cas raised an eyebrow to her. "Care to try another letter of the alphabet?" he asked her.

Gail's eyes widened slightly. What had gotten into him, all of a sudden? Too bad he didn't eat or drink; she would find out what he'd had, and always keep a good supply on hand. "Sure, why not?" she replied, nodding agreeably.

But now, he wasn't so sure he should say so. Cas knew he didn't have an ounce of violence in him right now, but he didn't want her to think badly of him or think that he was using her in that way.

Gail saw his smile fade. "What's the matter, Cas?" she asked him.

"I don't want you to think badly of me," he told her.

"I won't, Cas," she assured him. "I love you. It's OK, I promise. What do you want to do?"

He told her what he had in mind, and she said, "That WOULD be different. OK, let's try it, then."

Cas got up on his knees on the bed, and he gently lowered her body onto him. Her back was to him; he wanted to be able to touch as much of her body as he could. He pushed himself slowly into her as his hands caressed her body.

"Does this feel all right? Do you feel all right?" he said softly in her ear.

"I'm fine, Cas," she answered. Then he licked her ear, sending a shiver through her. One of his hands was touching her breasts, and the other began to stroke her between her legs. And he was still licking her ear. She had never felt so many different sensations all at once, and they all felt good. "That's good, Cas," she breathed.

He was extremely excited now that she had said that, and he wanted to push a little deeper, but in their current position, it was difficult to do. So Cas gently moved her upper body until she was nearly prone, and he put his hands on either side of her hips. "I need to go faster, Gail," he told her. "Is that all right?"

"Yes, Cas. Go ahead," Gail said. This was a really strange position for her now, but she was enjoying the feel of him inside her, and she wanted more.

He pushed forward a few times, using his hands on her hips to steady her. Then he pushed faster, and then faster. Gail was making her little sounds now, and he knew that she wasn't in any distress, so he continued. He closed his eyes, enjoying the warm feeling of her, and hearing her sounds. Her skin was so soft, and she was so good to him, and for him.

The feeling took Cas by surprise as he opened his eyes and looked down at her. This position was eerily similar to the one that the Demon had preferred, but the love made all the difference. He reached around to stroke her, and her sounds became louder.

"I love you so much," Cas said, and then he was still. But then he withdrew immediately, and he gently helped her to turn around. He wanted to look at her face, and make sure she was all right.

Thank God; she was smiling, looking at him lovingly. She pulled him down to kiss her and he did so, gladly. But he knew she hadn't been satisfied yet, so he reached down and resumed stroking her. "Close your eyes," he said softly. She did, and he began kissing and licking her face, his tongue darting all over, until he got to her mouth. His hand sped up as he kissed her deeply, and she was moving against his hand, whimpering. He knew from experience that she was nearly there now, so he ended the kiss and murmured, "Let yourself go, Gail. I love you more than anything, and I just want you to be happy."

Then she was crying out, and she buried her face in his neck. She was moving against his fingers, and he continued to stroke her until her cries subsided.

"Cas," she said. Again, that seemed to be all she could say. Screw it. She was just going to go down to Google's head office and give their whole staff hugs and kisses.

He held her until her breathing calmed down. She pulled away from him slightly so that she could look at his face. He was smiling gently. "How about now?" he asked her.

"What about now?" she said.

"How are you feeling now?" he inquired, raising an eyebrow to her.

"We are never leaving this room again," she said mischievously.

Cas laughed, but of course, her innocent comment reminded him of those dark days in the house, and even as he was hugging her to him and softly kissing her face, he thanked his Father once again for erasing Gail's memory of those ugly times. Things would never ever be that dark again, he vowed. From now on, their days were only going to be filled with laughter and love. If anyone were to deserve that, it was Gail, after all she'd been through, both at his own hands and at others'. No matter what he had to do to make it happen, Cas intended to ensure that she would never suffer again.

Aurielle had made her decision.

She had been thinking furiously ever since Crowley had left her office. She knew that she had been extremely lucky that he hadn't had her dragged to the torture chamber right there and then, but the next time when he came back, she wouldn't be as fortunate. One of the men would speak her name any moment now, telling Crowley that she had the Demon Tablet and that she had been trying to decipher the coded passage.

She took a few minutes more to try to look up those mystery phrases on her computer, hoping for an eleventh-hour breakthrough. But, although she did finally manage to find out what an "album" was, the phrases were too vague, and too wide open, and Google had too much information. It was impossible to winnow it all down in the amount of time she had, and Aurielle was feeling the sense of urgency now. Any minute now, she knew that Crowley would darken her door again, and then she would be done.

But she couldn't just give the Tablet over to him, either. Aurielle was convinced that the mysterious words were the key to something big, something that would turn Hell upside down and shake Crowley out of his throne. The former board members wanted that very much because they were looking to take over his Kingdom. She didn't care about that; they could have it. But Crowley had told Aurielle that he was going to do everything in his power to make sure that she would never get to be with Castiel, and that, she cared about a great deal.

There was only one way to find out what the passage said, and that was to talk to the one who had written it in the first place. Aurielle sighed. She had hated that place. But at least Freddy wouldn't be there now. She refused to be groped any more, and she didn't have the time to flirt now. It was time for the direct approach.

Aurielle reached into her desk drawer and took out the Tablet. She put it inside an accordion file. It fit just nicely. She checked down her top to make sure the necklace was easily accessible. Good.

She walked through the halls of Hell carrying the accordion file with the Tablet inside, looking busy and purposeful. It had been her experience that if you walked around like that, others would generally leave you alone. And that proved to be true; no one stopped her, or even acknowledged her. She got to the corridor where the door to Lucifer's cage was, and she stopped short. There were two guards there now. But Aurielle had been trained in the potential for combat, and she had fought in Purgatory. And though it had been a while since she'd used those skills, she knew how to proceed.

So she sauntered down the hallway, and when she had just about reached the place where the guards stood, Aurielle reached back and unclasped her necklace, removing it from her neck. When she got to the men, she uncapped the vial of holy water that had been attached to the necklace and threw some in both of their faces. As they screamed in pain, Aurielle wound up and whacked both of the guards in the head with the file she was carrying, hard. She put everything she had into each blow, and the heavy stone Tablet inside the file served very effectively as a bludgeoning instrument. Both Demons were unconscious before they hit the ground.

Aurielle bent down and took the key off the guard's belt, quickly unlocking the metal door. She glanced down at the guards. She should probably drag them into the corridor in case anyone walked by, but she didn't feel like she had enough time now. Crowley was coming for her. So she gambled, leaving them lying there. People almost never came by here; most were too scared of the place.

She rushed down the corridor to the cage. "Metatron!" she called.

Metatron had been sitting down in his usual position, with his back to the front of the cage, but Lucifer had been standing at the bars of the cage, almost as if he had been waiting for someone to come by, or for something to happen. And maybe he had. Ever since Metatron had told him about the coded passage on the Demon Tablet, Lucifer could sense that his time was drawing near. He had been in this cage for eons, but the time that had been promised was finally here, and Lucifer was excited.

"Aurielle?" Lucifer said happily. He saw the file that she was carrying, and he knew. He was finally going to be free. He looked down at Metatron, who appeared puzzled. Was Lucifer hallucinating? Metatron wondered.

"Don't be so rude, Metatron," Lucifer said to his cellmate, smiling. "Don't you know you're supposed to stand in the presence of a lady?" As Metatron struggled to get to his feet, Lucifer gave Aurielle a little courtly bow. "To what do we owe this distinct pleasure?" he asked her.

Aurielle walked over to Metatron's side of the cage. "You said you could translate this," Aurielle said, pulling the Tablet out of the file.

Metatron smiled slowly, exchanging surreptitious glances with Lucifer. "I can," he said lightly.

"Then would you please do it?" Aurielle asked him. "And we'd better hurry; I think Crowley will be coming after me any minute now."

She extended the Tablet towards the bars, and Metatron bent to look at the passage in question. His brow furrowed. What the hell had he been talking about, here? Creation had been a long time ago, after all. It was hard to remember back that far. Album, motorcycle...those things hadn't even come close to being invented yet when he'd written the damn thing. Yet he'd known that they were going to be, and he had used them in his code. Metatron had a deep appreciation for the classics, but pop culture had always admittedly been a weakness of his.

After a moment's perusal, he had it. He smiled at Lucifer. "So simple," he said. "Not even a code, really. If you know what you're doing."

Lucifer felt like stamping his foot in frustration. He was so close now, and here was Metatron, still bragging about how he was the smartest guy in the universe. He gritted his teeth. "Very clever," he said tightly.

"Well, what is it?" Aurielle snapped. Lucifer smiled. She sounded like his type of girl.

"I just need to look at one more word, and I can't - quite - make it out," Metatron said, pretending to peer at the writing on the Tablet. "Pass it through here, Aurielle."

She hesitated. Should she really let him hold it? But what could he do from in there, anyway? She handed the Tablet to him through the bars of the cage.

Metatron made a show of looking at the writing on the Tablet. Then he looked up at Lucifer. "Can you help me with this last word?" he said to his cellmate. "I can't quite remember the literal translation."

Lucifer moved over to stand beside him, and Metatron held the Tablet up in front of their faces, pretending to point to the place on it where he wanted Lucifer to look. "Grab her," Metatron said softly.

Lucifer looked startled for a moment, but Metatron raised his eyebrows, and Lucifer reached through the bars of the cage. He grabbed Aurielle's arm and pulled her forward, against the bars of the cage.

"Hold on to her and don't move," Metatron instructed. He smiled, quoting from the Tablet: "'Open Devil's Cage: The blood of two virgins, one man and one woman, former Angels who now reside in Hell.' Pretty simple, but also pretty smart, in my humble opinion."

Aurielle was struggling to get free now, but Lucifer's grip was like iron, and his hand clamped down even tighter in his anger at Metatron. "We can talk about how smart you are later!" he raged. "Do it, already!"

Metatron raised the Tablet above his head and smashed it down on the bars of the cage, as hard as he could. It broke into jagged pieces, and he grabbed one of the sharper ones, letting the others drop to the cage floor. He advanced on them and said, "This'll only sting for a minute," and then he cut them both with the jagged end. They started to bleed immediately.

"Mingle your blood with hers," Metatron told Lucifer, who shifted his grip on a shocked Aurielle's arm and did as instructed. Now Lucifer got it. Two virgins, former Angels. Pretty clever, he had to admit. Even if someone had managed to crack the code, they would never have expected Lucifer to be a virgin. He was the epitome of evil, and he had always talked a big game. Only the other four Original Angels would know that fact, and Metatron was one of them, of course.

Once their blended blood touched the base of the cage, the structure started to shake, and the bars began to crack. Then there was a blinding white flash, and when it faded, the cage was gone.

Lucifer started to grin. He still had a hold of Aurielle's arm, and he looked at her and said, "I think I love you."

She stared at him, wide-eyed. My God, what had she done?

Metatron looked around in amazement. A large part of him had believed that God had been screwing around when he had dictated that passage. Even now, Metatron wasn't so sure that it wasn't a trick of some sort.

Lucifer threw his head back and howled in glee. Then he seized Aurielle's hand. "How about it, beautiful?" he said to her. "Want to come to Earth with me?"

Aurielle thought about that for a moment. Why not? She was sick of Crowley, sick of the condescension from her fellow former Angels, and sick of Hell in general. And now that Castiel was an Angel again, she could search and search until she found him. Angel or Demon, she was an eternal being, as he was; she had all the time in the world.

She looked at Lucifer. Angels were taught that he was the most evil being Creation had ever seen. But he didn't seem so evil to her, really. She'd encountered many other beings who were a lot worse. And he was offering to take her where she wanted to go. She smiled. "I'd love to."

Lucifer looked at Metatron. He should just kill him right now. The guy was a little weasel. Nobody wanted him around; Lucifer, least of all.

But even though Metatron actually wasn't the smartest guy in the universe, contrary to his own humble opinion, he could figure out what Lucifer was thinking. "Sorry, roomie," Metatron said cheerfully. "Not gonna happen. Still, it's been real. I'm sure I'll see you soon enough." Then he disappeared.

Lucifer frowned. It figured. But he was too happy now to worry about much of anything. He couldn't wait to get to Earth and begin his campaign. Many of the stories in the Bible were either fact-based, exaggerations, or out-and-out fabrications, but the final chapter had been written by the first Prophet, and it was the one Gospel that Mark had never been given proper credit for. Mark had written the chapter under a pseudonym, so afraid was he of the possible implications of his perceived heresy. He had foretold the coming of Lucifer on Earth, but the story had been sloppily translated from the ancient language, and it was vague and enigmatic in the Book, translated as the second coming of Christ. Mark had called the chapter Revelation, but he could just as easily have called it A New Day Dawns. Now Lucifer would assume the role of Christ, and the humans would follow Lucifer.

And in that spirit, Lucifer turned to Aurielle and said, "I just need one favour."

There was a shout down the corridor in the direction of the door, and they heard footsteps coming in their direction.

"No time for romance," Lucifer grinned, and he grabbed Aurielle and pulled her to him. He kissed her, shoving his tongue into her mouth. "I've never done that before," he said, breaking the kiss. "I wish we had time for more, but we'd better go now."

They disappeared out of Hell just before Crowley had the opportunity to seize them. And the last thing that the King of Hell saw was Lucifer's Cheshire grin.

Darkness fell in Europe and Asia, extinguishing the daytime sun. People looked up at the sky, puzzled. Why was it suddenly so dark in the middle of the day? In some places it rained; in others, there were hail and high winds. And in Rome, a huge swarm of locusts descended on the patrons of the patio at the cafe where Castiel and Gail had once sat having a glass of wine together, Lucifer's first calling card to the couple.

Bobby was sitting at his desk, doing paperwork as usual. He'd never imagined that being God would involve pushing so many pieces of paper around. He sighed. He was really not in fighting shape any more, but he'd give a great deal to be somewhere else right now, doing something else, something real, that helped humanity. Maybe he should take a brief holiday, go out with Sam and Dean on a case, or something. Anything to get his blood going again.

And then, in that way that their Father had, Bobby's wishes were answered. And his worst nightmare was about to be realized, simultaneously. Careful what you wish for.

Sam and Zoey were back in bed again, and Sam was dozing now. He had ended up telling her all about himself and Dean over scrambled eggs and coffee, and Zoey had listened to his story quietly and patiently. Then, when his recitation was done, Zoey had walked around the kitchen table. She had sat in Sam's lap and kissed him. "Thank you for telling me," she'd said softly.

Then they had come back into the bedroom, and then they had been all over each other. Zoey felt closer to Sam now that he had divulged his truth to her, and she was comfortable enough with him to truly be herself. She lit the candles she always kept on the dresser and turned off the lamp.

"Romantic lighting," she said, smiling.

They were making love when the city lost power, and Sam was holding her and dozing when the loud boom of thunder outside made them jump. Then the rain started, and the wind began to blow it into the room through the open window.

Zoey started to get up, but Sam said, "I'll get it." He rose from the bed and crossed to the open window. He grabbed the top of the sill, sliding the window shut. He looked outside and saw only darkness. No lights whatsoever, not even a street light. "I think the storm must have caused a blackout," he said. Zoey jumped out of bed and flicked on the light switch on the wall. Nothing. "Yeah, it must have," she agreed. "Oh, well. We have light," she said, gesturing to the candles, "and we have each other. Come back to bed, Sam."

He continued to stare out the window. The rain was pounding against it now, and Sam could see forks of lightning in the sky. He frowned. There was nothing unusual about a thunderstorm, or a blackout. Then why did he suddenly feel so strange?

Dean and Nicole were propped up on pillows, talking.

"Now I'm really sorry we're going home," he told her with a smile.

"So am I," she responded.

"Let's keep in touch," Dean said, stroking her cheek with the back of his hand.

Yeah, right, Nicole thought. Wasn't that what they all said?

"What?" Dean asked her, seeing her expression.

"Nothing," Nicole said. She didn't want to say anything that might spoil the night. She wanted to be able to relive it in her memory for years to come.

They heard the loud thunderclap too, and the room was suddenly plunged into darkness. Nicole had been startled by the noise, and Dean felt her body jump. He pulled her tighter to him.

"Don't be scared," he murmured into her hair. "It's just a storm."

"I wasn't scared, you ass," Nicole retorted. Actually, she had been, a little. She just didn't want to admit it, especially not to a guy like Dean.

Then a boom of thunder, louder than the first one. Dean jumped. "Holy crap," he said.

Nicole started to laugh, and then Dean joined her. But his was more of a nervous laugh. He had jumped because he'd heard something in that thunder, just for a second. Dean recognized that sound from the time that he and Gail had gone to Hell to talk to Metatron.

For a moment there, Dean could have sworn he had heard the sound of Lucifer, laughing.

Cas and Gail were half-dressed now, and they had been cuddling and talking. "Maybe I will try to get a job on the show for the rest of the season, if Richard's got something I can do there," Gail said to him.

"I'd like that," Cas said, smiling. "Then we could be together more."

"Aren't we pretty much together all the time?" Gail said, raising her eyebrows.

But of course, she would have no recollection of their long separation. It was still fresh for Cas, and he didn't want to be apart from her for even one minute. "And that's just the way I like it," he said firmly, kissing her on the forehead.

"Maybe I can help Nicole and Zoey with your makeup and wardrobe," Gail said. Then she looked at him and smiled mischievously. "They can put the clothes on you, and I can take them off. They don't even have to pay me; I'd gladly do that for free."

"You can practice now, if you like," he quipped, raising an eyebrow to her.

Gail laughed. "Well, I do want to do a good job," she teased.

Cas had his shirt on, but he'd left it unbuttoned, and she slid it off his shoulders as he sat up. Then she put her arms around him and gave him a soft kiss on the cheek. "I think I need some practice, too," Cas said, smiling. He pulled her top off over her head, and even though what he'd said didn't really make any sense, Gail just figured he was trying to be flirtatious. After all, it wasn't like he'd had a lot of practice at that sort of thing. Then he leaned down and kissed her neck, slowly and lovingly, and Gail realized she really didn't care what he said, as long as he was going to do something like that.

He looked at her again. "I love you," Cas said. She opened her mouth to respond, but he was kissing her now, and his tongue was searching for hers. He slipped her underpants down from her hips and gently laid her on the bed, taking them the rest of the way off. Then he caressed her thighs and opened her legs, using his tongue in the place he knew she liked it the most.

"I love you, Cas," she breathed, and he smiled. There was no need for him to ask her to say it anymore; he knew that she did, and it was better when she said it spontaneously like this, anyway. He had been crazy to ever think that she might not love him. The Demon had stoked the flame of his insecurities, making him doubt that someone as perfect as her could ever love someone as deeply flawed as him. But she obviously loved him a great deal. She had put herself through ordeal after ordeal in her quest to cure him, and she had endured his brutal and disgusting behaviour throughout the whole process. And then she had even loved him enough to send him away, telling him to work on feeling better about himself. So he had, and although Cas knew that he was still a work in progress, he did feel better about himself now, both as an Angel and as an individual. He had Gail to thank for that, too.

He was thanking her now, putting all his love for her into what he was doing. He could feel and taste how happy he was making her, and Gail was saying his name, telling him how good it was.

When she cried out, he lingered a moment, then he took off his pants and slid into her, pulling her body up to meet his. He kissed her as he pushed himself into her. She was touching his face with one hand and caressing his body with the other. She broke the kiss and clutched him tighter. "Go faster, Cas," she breathed into his ear. As he sped up, she licked his ear, and he cried out her name. She was making him feel amazing.

He turned his face to kiss her, and she opened her mouth again to receive his tongue. He was breathing heavily now, and making the kinds of sounds that Gail usually made. He couldn't help himself. Now he understood why she did that sometimes. Sometimes it felt so good that you just couldn't keep silent.

Cas pushed forward once more, hugging her tightly to him, still kissing her. He moaned as he felt the warm rush, and Gail smiled through the kiss.

Cas didn't want to move. He wanted to stay just like this forever, feeling the way he felt right now. He continued to kiss her, trying to catch his breath. She was caressing his back and shoulders, and she broke the kiss to tell him again how much she loved him. Cas couldn't even speak. How could he possibly ever tell her how much he loved her? And he couldn't tell how glad he was that she had come back to him. Any words he could think of to say were either inadequate, or should not be spoken.

"Cas?" Gail said softly. "As much as I'm loving this, I'm feeling a bit chilly all of a sudden."

He withdrew from her immediately and laid her back down on the bed, pulling the covers over them and hugging her to him. Now that he had calmed down a bit, Cas felt it, too. Funny, the weather had been hot and dry when they'd been at the fair, but now it felt very cool and damp.

The first thunderclap sounded outside. That explained it, then. An end-of-summer storm was cooling things down. Cas could hear the rain driving against the window now. The lamp on the nightstand suddenly went out, and the room was plunged into darkness.

"Wow, that must be some storm," Gail said. Then the second boom of thunder sounded, and she jumped a little. Cas tightened his arms around her, kissing her on her forehead. "Sorry," Gail said to him. "I know it's just part of nature, but the sound of loud thunder has always scared me for some reason." And though that was true enough, that wasn't the only reason she had jumped. Like Dean, Gail could have sworn that she'd heard someone laughing in that thunderclap, just for a moment. But that was crazy, of course. Wasn't it?

She snuggled against Cas. "Don't be scared," he said softly. "I'll never let anything happen to you."

As Bobby worked, Sam and Dean slept, and the Angels cuddled, Lucifer stood on top of a hill, looking up at the night sky. He had created the storm, of course. His arrival here on Earth had needed to be announced. It was a momentous occasion, after all. But it wasn't as if he could run around shouting it from the rooftops, either. The operation he had planned required finesse and subtlety, at least to begin with. The Devil's voice may be pleasing to some, but what most humans really craved was a strong leader to guide them through these violent and uncertain times. This was Lucifer's time now, and he intended to make the most of it.

\- END OF BOOK 11. -

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading ~ I appreciate your feedback, comments and kudos.


End file.
